are you protecting your child from what is bad as well as from what is good?
To every dad, the defacto superman in the house, keeping harm and hurt at bay is part of the job description. Some pull it off with ease while some fail most of the times – like me, but not all the time though, otherwise what business would I have writing to fellow dads?
We baby-proof our house when they’re crawling, buy helmets and guards for our kids as they learn how to ride a bike, cross-examine our kid’s friends and even take them through lie detector tests and waterboarding to ensure they’re not trying to introduce some weird things to our kids (…Ok I agree that is too extreme and we ‘good dads’ don’t do that kind of thing….or is it?..)
It goes without saying that as dads we’re willing to do all to keep our kids safe but are we helping them for now at the expense of the future?
As dads it is important that we figure out how to differentiate between what is hurtful and what is harmful.
So what IS the difference between something that is harmful and something that is hurtful?
Well according to Merriam Webster:
Hurtful means causing injury or emotional pain ; especially : cruel or unkind whereas Harmful means causing or capable of causing damage or harm.
In life there are few things we are sure of, but among them is being hurt. We are hurt by friends, we are hurt by parents, we are hurt by the ending of a movie that we expected to end differently…. OK that’s just me, but hurt is everywhere.
Harm on the other side, not many live to tell the story or are the same after it. Going on a drinking binge and driving while drunk is harm looking for a place to happen and one either dies or gets paralyzed in the case of an accident.
Being the SuperDad that you are, you would want to keep your child from both the harmful and the hurtful but is that really what you want to be doing?
Follow with me here, We are raising children not to be better versions of us but to be everything God purposed for them before they were in their mothers wombs – Psalms 139:16, if you don’t know what we mean, then read this, but if you know about that then you know we should do everything in our power to prepare them for the world that starts at the other side of the door.
Protecting our kids from the hurtful stuff, Ill prepares them for the world. And it is such kids that become quickly disoriented when they realize how cruel the world is.
Seek to keep your child from Harm but help them to grow through Life's hurt. Click To Tweet
Hurt is mostly a result of failing at something, and if we do not allow our children to fail and fail often they will not know how to handle failure when it happens, because it will but even more importantly they will not know the joys of being successful.
By all means let’s keep our kids away from harmful situations and people but let’s not be too quick to shield them from hurt because it is from hurt that they will grow and be better.
John 16:33 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition.
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”
Christ protects us from harm but assures us of hurt.
Points to Ponder:
1. Have you been protecting your child from failing?
2. What will you do to better prepare your kid for the future in light of this article?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.