Genesis Chapters 2 and 3

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit. Taking our Father in Heaven as the model parent, it is instructive to study how he handles this.

First of all, look at verse 16 and 17:

And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.

So, first of all, before he even let Adam and Eve loose in the garden, God laid down the ground rules. God told them what he expected of them, and explained the consequences.

Now, what happens when Adam and Eve do not do as they were told? In Genesis chapter 3, verse 11 God confronts Adam and asks him directly,

Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

Now, in the last part of this account, God hands out the consequences. God is true to his word, and Adam and Eve must die. Genesis 3:19

. . .for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So, how do we apply this method to parenting our own children? First, we need to think ahead, decide what our expectations are and explain them to our children. we also need to have some consequences in mind, and explain those too. Then, when children do not do what we expect them to do, we give them a chance to admit it, and then we apply the consequence that we already explained to them. If we do this consistently, following through every time, our children will begin to take us seriously, and when we ask them to do something, they will do it or know that there will be consequences.

This page copyright © 2004 Rebecca J. Carlson. All Rights Reserved.

Back to the Family Room

Fall back to the Keep!