Mom Heart Moments #57

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

FOR SOME YEARS, I wondered if Joy and Joel could go for a day without chafing each other. Whatever personality issues lay between them, adding in a little sin nature and their age difference meant they often corrected each other’s opinions or thoughts —there was always high friction. Some of my best memories recently have been seeing them come to the piano again and again, playing, singing, and harmonizing for literally hours, as they are both singer-songwriter types. Joel coached Joy as she practiced speeches and then spent hours judging at speech and debate tournaments. They even spent some time as flatmates while attending college in Scotland.

Amazingly enough, all of my children now seem to get along!

Moms often ask me, “When are they ever going to stop fussing? Will they ever be friends?” It does take longer than any of us would want, but training is the key to shaping each child’s heart. Love must become a trained habit.

What we sow, we reap. And if we sow seeds of love, choosing to be kind, learning to be gentle, and showing respect, we will empower our children to have strong relationships. All of this must be taught, modeled, and then corrected again and again.

In short, training children to choose to love by showing kindness, gentleness, and respect will prepare them to go before both kings and paupers and to become leaders in their generation. This is one of the most important areas of training, so that our children can learn how to influence people with the messages of Christ. It starts with an attitude that says, “God has designed me to love people, to be humble like He was, and to show respect and kindness.”

How are you training your children to love well today?