Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Why work?

Another principle set forth in The Shaping of a Christian Family is work. I happened to catch an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap last night which was quite amusing. The producers select wives that are completely opposite and then have them switch homes (and husbands) for a week. In this episode, Dweezil Zappa's wife ended up in the home of baseball star, David Justice. Megan Zappa was horrified to learn that the Justice children have no chores, unlike her daughter, Mia. When Megan questions David as to why he doesn't make his children do chores, he replies that he feels they learn responsibility from playing sports. Sad to say that Megan didn't know how to respond to that. It almost looked as if she wasn't so sure anymore why she gave her daughter chores. After all, the Justice children did seem well behaved.

So why do we want our children to work? I think a good place to start is to say God worked (read Genesis). He is a pretty good example. 1 Thess. 4:11 says "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you." Another good authority.

Not only should we all work for the good of the family, but we should do it cheerfully, without arguing and complaining. Phil. 2:14 This will teach our children responsibility and maturity. For age-appropriate chores: see this article on Family Life:
http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/parenting/foundations/character-development/age-appropriate-chores-for-children#.U49DavldUTk

Finally, check out Dr. James Dobson's view at:
http://www.drjamesdobson.org/Solid-Answers/Answers?a=e1e3295e-89b1-4061-82d1-3c79024a27d6

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