In this latest installment of Chalcedon’s (www.chalcedon.edu) Homeschooling Help, Andrea Schwartz and Nancy Wilk tackle a question that’s a lot stickier than it looks: Does the word of God instruct us to love our children unconditionally? It’s about 30 minutes long, and I guarantee you’ll find it thought-provoking.
The stumbling-block is the word “unconditional,” which presupposes something that does not, in fact, exist: “All love is conditional love,” as Andrea and Nancy make clear. Like, my wife loves me; but if I did certain things, you can bet she wouldn’t love me anymore. So I don’t do those things!
I find myself on tenterhooks (what exactly are tenterhooks? anybody know?) because Andrea and Nancy do not rule out the occasional spanking as a legitimate, appropriate tool of parental discipline. Ooooh! To think it actually takes courage to say that…
Andrea is Chalcedon’s homeschooling mentor. You wouldn’t believe how hard she worked, trying to teach me to perform certain computer functions. I can personally testify to her patience!
Andrea is a faithful disciple of Ruchdoony, and represents his teachings well. May God bless her abundantly.
If parents actually loved their children no matter what they did, those children would probably grow up to curse their parents which under Old Testament law required that they be put to death. – hmmmm.
If you “love” someone no matter what they do, there’s something wrong with you.
I believe you can love your child (or anyone else) at all times. BUT..you don’t LIKE them sometimes. big difference in the 2 emotions.
Bull’s eye for you!