Here I offer a condensed summary of Richard Baxter‘s The Duties of Parents for their Children:
1. Understand their need of a Savior and dedicate them to God’s covenant mercy
2. Teach them the principles of their relationship to the Covenant of Grace
3. Serve as an authority and do not let them be self-willed
4. Serve as a loving authority, both to be feared and befriended
5. Teach them to have reverence for the Scriptures and holy things
6. Always speak with reverence and seriousness about the things of God
7. Teach them by example to respect those who are worthy of respect and to loathe the life of sin and godlessness
8. Teach them and show them that the way of holiness is the way of happiness
9. Teach them of the dangers of sensuality and encourage them to care for their minds before their bodies
10. Teach them to care for their bodies and exercise physical self-control
11. Allow them to engage in sports and hobbies, but not to the point that those things become central priorities
12. Discourage pride and promote humility
13. Teach them of the dangers of materialism and seeking riches
14. Teach them to control their tongues from lying, crudeness, and taking the name of the Lord in vain
15. Guard them from company that will further corrupt them
16. Teach them to value time, improve time, and consider that their time is short
17. Use corrective discipline (a) not too often but not too little, b) according to the temperament and ability of the child, c) primarily for sins rather than pet-peeves, d) never when you are angry, e) with tenderness and love, f) with the aid of Scripture texts
18. Teach by example (not ‘do as I say; not as I do’); strive to be the person that you would desire them to emulate
19. Be proactive, not just a spectator, as they seek someone to marry
20. Especially for mothers: 1) Look for every opportunity to teach them throughout the day and 2) be especially concerned with teaching, and encouraging, them to read
A word for those who cannot have children:
But if God deny you children, and save you all this care and labour, repine not, but be thankful, believing it is best for you. Remember what a deal of duty, and pains, and heart’s grief he hath freed you from, and how few speed well, when parents have done their best: what a life of misery children must here pass through, and how sad the fear of their sin and damnation would have been to you.
Read the original work in its entirety HERE.
