The Right Reason
If we can teach our children to listen to the Holy Spirit, we won’t need a bunch of rules. Do we have boundaries? YES, but with plenty of room for error. It takes faith and cannot be done if we as parents aren’t led by the Holy Spirit. Lead by example.
I know I will get some know-it-all that will now post “So I am just supposed to let my kids run and play in the street hoping they hear from the Holy Spirit.” LOL
Not quite what I am talking about. Rules like that keep your child safe. I am more talking about forcing your child to do spiritual things rather than showing them by leading them.
Many think that telling and forcing their child into submission is actually leading them. This is absurd.
I went to a church service on Sunday and had to help the secretary with her computer. Service had started and I wasn’t quite done. My wife, who had to sing that morning, asked a friend to watch the kids until I was done. A few minutes into the worship service, I completed what I needed to do. The usher motioned for my kids to come and sit with me. We began to worship, but I noticed that my son was just kind of standing there.
At this moment, I could have forced him to worship to get the outward result that I was looking for, but instead I asked him a simple question…
“Hey buddy, I noticed that you were worshipping really good when you were with the person that was watching you (in the front row). Why were you worshipping so good and now you don’t seem to be worshipping at all?”
“Because people were watching,” he said.
WOW!!! I took the next few minutes teaching him. I want my kids to worship for the right reason or I will end up creating another religious person who is concerned with the outward more than with God. I am more concerned about the reason than the response. If the proper reason is there, the proper response will follow. As my son showed me, the response can be faked.
I used to discipline them for not worshipping, but realized that I became a taskmaster and they were only doing it to avoid discipline.
I used to reward them for worshipping, but realized that they were only doing this for the reward. (I do reward my children, but I never tell them before hand, but after the fact. I also randomly reward them. They cannot come the expect that they are going to get a reward for worshipping good or they will begin to worship for the reward. I want them to worship for who Jesus is rather than what they receive from Him.)
I have found that they respond best to God when I worship with them. I pick them up or go down to their level. I hold their hands and embrace them. We sing together. They love to worship now. I always ask them if they enjoyed Jesus and what He was speaking to them. If they seem to be “off” I encourage them. If they are unchanged, I realize that there are probably other things in their life that are taking a bigger priority than Jesus and my wife and I steer them back. Jesus wants to accompany every area of our life.
I’m sure that there will be some that think it is okay for your children to worship on the outward for now, because after all, they are only kids.
Train them right from the beginning and they will be better for it. Your kids are smarter than you think.
Bottom line is this: When you walk by the Spirit of God, you are able to train your child(ren) to do the same. Will we miss it at times, YES, but we can’t succeed without trying.
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