Mom Heart Moments #22

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.

IN LIFE, all choices have consequences. Children need to understand they will reap what they sow. I used to tell my children over and over again, “Daddy and I cannot make you into great people. You have the power to determine how strong you become by how you exercise your will. We can train you and teach you how to be good and how to be righteous, but you have to decide to obey, that you want to become a person of godly character. God made you such a wonderful child, so I hope you will decide to do your best to become all that you can be. It is in your hands. It is yours to decide how to respond.”

When we appeal to our children’s hearts for excellence and choices of good behavior, we are giving them the will and desire to be excellent for themselves. But if we attempt to train them behaviorally by always forcing them to do what we want them to do because they might get a spanking or some other kind of discipline, their motivation is to avoid spanking or harshness, not to please God or to please their parents by having a good heart and responding in obedience.

My desire as a mom is that my children would internalize the precepts we’ve taught them over the years. I want them to love God and obey Him because they earnestly love Him and desire to please Him. Building a foundation will carry them throughout all the decision-making processes they will face for the rest of their lives.

Do you tend to try to motivate your children’s choices through behavioral training, or through reaching their hearts? How can you change the way you instinctively respond to your children? Spend time in prayer asking the Lord’s help in this area.