Do as i say not as i do!

After putting much thought into what content I wanted to input into this blog the one thing that I was determined to do was to share life experiences that I went through that could possibly be beneficial to someone else (some experiences are embarrassing but there’s much to be learned from other’s mistakes).

Before becoming a mother I thought that all it would take for a child to learn not to do something wrong was to correct them when they would make that first mistake and eventually they would know not to do it again.  It’s a wonderful theory right?  There’s just one thing that I was never told about correcting your children that they would very likely make the same mistakes over and over again and that it would take several corrections before they would realize that there is a lot at stake when being constantly disobedient. 

After having spent the last six years on mommy duty I now have to say that I’m the one that became corrected and disciplined.  Here’s the main reason why:  Telling our children what to do is very easy but actually having to show them through our actions how to behave can be the difficult part.  See, we can’t have expectations for them to deliver appropriate behavior if we aren’t showing them appropriate behavior.  For example:  if you lie in front of your children guess what?  They too will lie.  How can we tell them not to lie if they see us lying?  Or if we use inappropriate language how can we rebuke our children for swearing?  Are we asking them to do what we say but not what we live?

Think about what type of adult you want your children to become.  If you want them to be wholesome then you need to show them the way.  Children live and are lead by example! 

I started in the beginning speaking about how often we need to correct our children before they can realize that it is not okay to do that wrong thing that got them in trouble.  But this will take several conversations and constant instruction.   This constant instruction is what my children have given me in exchange.  I began to realize that God had to constantly discipline me and instruct me on how He wants me to live and think.  And like my children it took a lot of correction of repeatedly making the same mistakes before I finally understood what God wanted me to do or be.  This is the reason why when something happens in our life that is uncomfortable for us we really need to search our minds and hearts to find how is God correcting or disciplining us during these situations.  We cannot demand faithfulness from God and blessings if we are giving Him rebellion.  The same way we cannot reward our children for being disobedient.   

Remember He is a faithful and forgiving God but He still needs to follow through with discipline in order to prevent us from attempting to make the same mistakes, unless you’re like me that made the same mistakes so many times before I realized that I needed to change if I wanted to receive the wonderful blessings that God had stored for me. 

Proverbs 15:10 (New King James Version)

“ Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way,
      And he who hates correction will die.”