Have you ever had days where you just wish you didn’t have to pull weeds anymore? I’m not talking about weeds in the garden either — I’m talking about the weeds of sin. Bickering, anger, disobedience, selfishness, laziness — it just gets so old.
The other day I sat down to post on Facebook, and this was what I first typed: “Have you ever wished you could just wave a wand over your children and change one behavior instantly and for all time? Which behavior would you change?” But before I hit enter, I was struck with the realization that this attitude of mine was wrong. After all, God was the One who gave us the free will to choose. By asking the question (or thinking the thought) I am calling into question his sovereignty — wishing I could take over for just a minute and play God. And most of those behaviors I see in my kids? They can be traced back to me. I’ve been blowing on the dandelions.
Just like blowing on the dandelions, sins sometimes offers a temporary reward. Bickering with my husband gives me the momentary satisfaction of out-talking someone. Choosing to be selfish with my time gives me more time to do what I want to get done. No one should ever say that sin does not come with a reward. It just doesn’t last very long, or have an eternal value.
And sin also has consequences. One of the consequences of my sin is found in the behaviors of my kids. I have one son in particular who needs to spend a good dose of one-on-one time with me every single day. When I shirk on that by selfishly choose my own thing, his behavior quickly spirals. I end up spending more time calming him down and disciplining him than I would have spent just being with him and enjoying his company. This is just one example, but I have heard it over and over from other parents.
We look their sin in the face and see ourselves staring back.
Since reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I have been changing my focus. It is slow progress but I guess that is okay. So after staring at my keyboard for a while and thinking all this through, I changed my status.
Amy, this is a great reminder for me to carefully choose my behaviors because my children are watching and learning from me.