“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.” (2 John 1:4–6 LSB) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#2John_4

The practical application of love for God is obedience to God. We see love for God when we put into practice His commands. Thus discipleship is the teaching of all that Jesus commanded us so that we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This concept is absent in Christian parenting. Unfortunately the pagan psychology teachers in the public universities where students are indoctrinated in godless ways are taught not to discipline children but to reason with children in order to develop children into healthy adults. The pagan assumption is that people are born blank slates and turn out good or bad as their environment influenced them. Thus in the pagan mindset, it takes a village to raise a child and the village leadership collective, the government, being the smartest group, is best situated for influencing the children so they come out ‘right.’ Their worldview begins with no God and so their teachings take us from God. Christians begin with God and turn to Him for understanding how to please God and live forever with God. The word of God teaches we are born sinful, pre-disposed toward selfish and self-demanding living. The toddler confirms this predisposition. The parents job is to train their children, to discipline their children to obedience to them and to God so that when they are older they will obey God. This training is not welcome at first and is difficult, like any training, but once trained the wisdom of the training, the benefits of the training, create a love for the training because we find ourselves healthier and happier as a result of it. If we would raise godly children in this world we must reject the teachings of men and embrace the teachings of God for parenting. A trend that has been sorely lacking these past forty years with the results we see in the chaos, murder, death, and insubordination of our younger generations.