Rules-based parenting vs. grace
Since May Week is legislating new rules for parents this year in order to crack down on teens and their texting habits (I've heard that they are, indeed, banning texting between teens interested in each other), I think it's an appropriate time to write about the subject of rules-based parenting—and how that relates to legalism, Pharisaism, and our understanding of God as our father, and his grace. Have you thought about why the Old Testament comes with 613 rules from God for His people? And have you thought about why the New Testament wiped out such ordinances? Or why people constantly try to interpret the New Testament in such a way as to re-create an Old Testament style legal system? The disparity in how God related [...]