Discipline: Parenting from Law to Grace | Marty Machowski

When your toddler reaches for a cup of hot coffee on the table, you bring the law to bear and say “No!” command. Then you use your physical strength if needed to block any persistent attempts. But it doesn’t work so well to order your teens around with the same “No!”  You also can’t restrain a teen intent on disobedience like a toddler who insists on doing wrong. Somewhere along the line your authority must give way to influence, your commands to conversation, and application of law to an introduction of the gospel. Knowing how to make this transition is one of the most important lessons parents will ever learn.