Psalms 6:1--O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. You might think this is a strange verse to do a devotional on; but, for this house especially it fits. There are four children who live in this house; Caleb Bubba Michaela Parson Jackson Johnson and then little Miss Alana Mama (thats what I call her). I so love being a mom. For me there is just no other greater achievement. [If you are a mom who has to, or chooses to, work outside the home, please know, that I mean no offense; for you are all awesome as well.] But even having a home that runs fairly smoothly in its day to day operations, there are some pitfalls at one time or other. There are times when my sweet, little angels need to be disciplined and have their behavior corrected. Can you believe that? (lol) I used to scream, oh my how I could scream. My screaming got so bad that as of today Mark and I are still battling Jacksons screaming outbursts when hes mad about something. In learning patience I have also learned to control some of my screaming. I have learned how to correct and discipline in a manner befitting a princess, a daughter of the Most High King. Mark and I have set up Compliance Contracts for each of the kiddos. These contracts list out what is expected of each child and the consequences that will be given for behavior that is not tolerated (corporal punishment is no longer a viable means of punishment, I follow the belief that if you hit a child in anger then the child is more likely to hit in his/her anger, thus allowing a vicious cycle of hit and be hit.); the contracts also list out rewards and privileges that the kids can get for behavior that is exceptional or for when they do something outside of their regular chores. A big plus to these contracts is that they make me and Mark be consistent...consistency is the key. And I am getting better; I dont like to have to give out consequences and so I might give them one or two warnings before I get really serious; but, even that has to stop because you know how kids can be sometimes...give them an inch and theyre likely to want to take a whole mile...lol. Tough love is hard to dole out when all you want to do is love your children. I said all of that to say this; God is the same way. He does not want to have to discipline us; He does not want that any of us should be destroyed with Satan (2 Peter 3:9). He gives us chance after chance after chance after chance...even when, in our humanness, we dont offer those same chances to other people. But, still, God being God and being full of grace and mercy, along with justice, must exhibit tough love. There is coming a day when the shedding of His tears for us will cease to be. Personally, I strive to fully embrace his discipline now so that later I will receive the rewards and privileges that I diligently work for now by doing my chores plus extra...the most important of which is being able to worship at the very feet of Him who saved me, Jesus, the Christ. Have a wake up kind of Wednesday...on purpose!
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 12:54:22 +0000
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