The Puritans Took Parenting Seriously

Recently I read a quote of Cotton Mather’s where he imagined children on Judgment Day speaking to their parents who had neglected their duties. It makes for sobering reading and is a reminder of how serious our role is.

You should have taught us the things of God, and did not; you should have restrained us from sin and corrected us, and you did not; you were the means of our original corruption and guiltiness, and yet you never showed any competent care that we might be delivered from it… Woe unto us that we had such …careless parents.

Cotton Mather quoted in Disciplines of a Godly Family by Kent and Barbara Hughes

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

I read this quote from the Puritan Cotton Mather on the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing for Christian parents.

Before all, and above all, ’tis the knowledge of the Christian religion that parents are to teach their children…The knowledge of other things, though it be never so desirable an accomplishment for them, our children may arrive to eternal happiness without it…But the knowledge of the godly doctrine in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ is of a million times more necessity for them.

We can stop feeling guilty about our children not being in a sports team, or being unable to attend music lessons or other activities. These are good things, but if we forgo these because spiritual development and family relationships are more important to us, we do well.