Spirituality of Parenting

The approaches of the western world on parenting is motivated or energized by popular psychology which as you know is the study of the mind. It is a PASSIVE one. This approach takes into consideration that the mind of the child is the source of his/her existence and must be given ample space and liberty to develop. And so, the child is seen as self-existent as a matter of speaking. In this case, the parent does not have much personal responsibility for the child's progression. The parent, needless to say, spectates in parenting also. It is abstract.

The Eastern perspective is very much the opposite. It is very concrete. In the Eastern approach or the Scriptural/ Spiritual approach, the mind or brain of the child is not the source of his/ her existence, but the pneuma (spirit) that energizes what psychology refers to as the mind. The spirit of the child is the source of the child's intelligence, capabilities, and abilities. For the intelligence, capabilities, and abilities of the spirit to bear fruit, two things are very much required

#1. The spirit is trained to be single-minded. For this to happen, the spirit must be ACTIVELY trained to walk strictly by the principles of love which translates to respecting the dignity of all creation (i.e. ensuring that no creation is being used outside of its intended context and that everything that is said and done contributes to the dignity of all creation i.e. people, place, animal, plant, things). Principles are to the spirit what walls are to a water channel. These principles become the lens through which the child would see the world.

For that reason Proverbs 1:3 reads receive instruction in wise behavior and the DISCIPLINE of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity;

Also, Deuteronomy 6:6-7

The double-mindedness of the spirit creates stagnation which shows itself in multiple forms, in some cases, developmental issues. The single-mindedness of the Spirit allows progression and development which translates into development of intelligence.

It is for this reason Proverbs 5:23 reads:
He will die for lack of instruction (DISCIPLINE), And in the greatness of his foolishness, he will go astray and be lost.

Proverbs 23:13 Do not withhold DISCIPLINE from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.

N.B. Death and its manifestations in the Wisdom Literature is attributed to a lack of spiritual management/ Discipline.

And, requirement #2. The spirit is filled with knowledge/ information. What food is to the body, information and reasoning is to the spirit. The more information is sowed into the spirit, the more intelligence is revealed. Intelligence is defined as the ability to or skill of applying knowledge. Therefore, the revelation of the intelligence of a spirit is limited to the knowledge sown into it. But, the benefit of the knowledge input is highly dependent on the training of the spirit.

This is standard.

The interesting part about this is that once these principles are set and maintained anything that the spirit encounters that is contrary to this discipline, it sees as wrong and cannot accept. And if it persists, the spirit is stirred into irritability or anger. This is what is called in Scripture, indignation.
All of this translates into parenting. The integrity of the parent, in this case, trains the child. The parent's integrity is what allows or disallows the actions or behaviors of a child regarding love (as expressed above).

This is not taught in our western world. It is not even known.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY, the Eastern or Scriptural perspective of parent-child relationship is that the Parent has authority over the child. Whatever a spirit (in this case the parent) has authority over, it spiritually extends itself over so that the thing (in this case the child) is in the energetic field of the spirit and the influence of the energy of the spirit (of the parent). This naturally brings the child into an innate instinctive submission to the parent in infancy. Also, due to that connection, a parent will also know instinctively if something is wrong with their child. This connection does not only allow energy to be communicated from child to parent but also from parent to child. Because of this a child also instinctively knows to a certain extent what the integrity of the parent will allow. What they are not instinctively sure about, they will test.

AGAIN, this is not known in the western world. The western world is psychology driven, not Pneumatology driven. Also because of that discipline is frowned upon by the professional Psychologists from which society takes information from.