Saturday, January 8, 2011

Obedience shall be a heart issue

I promised to write some "hows" in accordance to training our children. First let's set a goal. One at once. I want my daughters to have the right attitude.  Therefore, my practical goal is to teach them obedience. Without this I won't get anywhere. Let's go back to the Bible first. I do this since I have experienced that with the Lord's guidance I can achieve things. When I tried it with my self created thoughts it either went wrong or my daughter did only applied it at that occasion and next time everything was the same. She forget what she should have done. Collossians 3:20 is a clear guidance in this.  
"Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord."  
It will take time for them to learn and understand the importance of being obedient. First they will obey because you tell them so and only after that they will see that this will please the Lord. I am convinced God helps us when we are stuck. He talks to our heart,  reminds us of verses and pours creativity into our minds, too. We are in need of all these when our little one is testing our nerves.
How do I  teach obedience? This question can only be answered if we think about how God teaches this. You never go wrong if you ask Him. He says: "let your heart keep my commandments" (Proverbs 3:1) and love the Lord your God and served Him. (Deuteronomy 11:13) Therefore, I shall expect my daughter to do what I ask her to do but love me at the same time. This can be hard sometimes. My daughter usually does everything I ask her but my question is whether she is doing that with a kind and cheerful heart. When I see groan on her face I think again. Is this right? No. She shall do what I ask because she loves me ant not because she is afraid of being spanked. What a big difference. We love the Lord therefore we obey. So this is what we shall look forward to when teaching our children obedience. This is for today. I pray now and ask God for teaching us His words and obedience so that we will be able to teach our beloved children the same.

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