When I observe the families where parents seem to be doing a good job of living the Christian faith in relation to their children, it is readily apparent that actual practices vary widely. Particular rules, techniques of discipline, variation in strictness and permissiveness – they run the gamut. One thing stands out: these parents, seriously, honesty, joyfully follow the way of Christ themselves. They don’t define adolescence as a problem and try to solve it. They are engaged in vigorous Christian growth on their own and permit their children to look over their shoulders while they do it.
…they don’t have to live perfect lives, but they must take seriously what they are doing, which is growing up in Christ. They must do it openly before adolescents so that the adolescents can observe, imitate, and make mistakes in the context of care and faith.
-- Eugene Peterson, Like Dew Your Youth
