Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Follow up on Obedient Children
I didn't communicate as well as I had hoped. Esther asked if doing things like your parents -- things you swore you'd never do and then discovering you are exactly like mom or dad (my words not hers -- check out her comment on last blog entry) -- if that is obedience. Sort of. You took it in more of a negative turn than I meant it to take. I was thinking more along the lines of the following examples: I tell my kids over and over to take out the trash, then one day, they just do it because they recognize that dad really was on to something when he wanted the house to not smell like garbage. OR I tell my kids over and over to brush their teeth, then one day I discover that they are doing that because they don't want green teeth instead of because dad told them to do it. OR I tell my kids over and over to be in by 11:00 pm, then one night they just show up at 10:45 without being told because they recognize that it would please dad. Anyway -- that is obedience. Not just following the rules because someone tells you, but following the rules because you want to be just like the rule maker.
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3 comments:
Sorry, I wasn't trying to be negative. And I wasn't thinking of bad things my parents might have done, only things I didn't understand when I was a child and then understood more when I became a parent. I don't think I fully understood my mother until I became one myself. I now know that "because I said so..." is a valid response to a whiney child. I contend I was the best parent before I had children. But I digress.
I understand you are talking about a revelation vs a rote habit. It's a wonderful feeling when you realise you are doing something out of love and not b/c you have to. On both sides of the coin.
to know the One who makes the rules... not just know the rules... the complete reason Jesus came. :)
i say complete, sure there's more to it than that, but this simplicity works.
oh how much more I need to learn! Thanks Kate for that reminder.
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