Remember the Goal

As parents, it is so easy to lose sight of the big picture.  Long term goals are hard to remember when we’re trying to make dinner and the three year old is fussing.  Our children’s adulthood seems so far off.  But really, it is just a touch away.

It is vital that we keep the goal in mind.  They must learn to trust God and obey His Word.

We, as Mom and Dad, are the example of God to our little ones.  They don’t know Him; they know us.  If we tell them to stop running in the house, yet don’t enforce it, we are teaching them that their father will let them break the rules.  Eventually they will have their own relationship with God.  If you haven’t taught them that you mean what you say, they may have a hard time understanding that He will never, ever break the promises He made to us in His Word.  It can lead to a life long struggle.

If I tell my son to go to bed, but he screams and gets up and whines….somehow I have taught him that this behavior is OK.

Do you believe that God means what He says?  Then teach that to your children.

If Johnny won’t go to bed peacefully, then you must take the time to teach him.

On their part….no arguing, no whining, no disrespect.

On your part…no anger, no empty threats, no frustrating tone.

Believe me, with 9 children, I know how exhausting it can be.  I’m tired and I don’t always feel like giving up my quiet moment to go sit and train a child to go to bed.  But then I remind myself of the goal….that they know and love God and His ways.  In the long term…..I will get rest another time, but this is the moment to teach my little ones to do what they are told.  They must trust me and know that what I tell them is for their best.  They are not ready to make these decisions for themselves.

Don’t wait.

Remember the goal.  It is not about how your child behaves in this moment.  It is not about you controlling them.  It is about their understanding of God, relationships and responsibility.

Hebrews 12: 5-11

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,  and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

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