Mom Heart Moments #126

I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

I HAVE NOTICED THAT MANY young parents neglect to listen to their children, then wonder why their children do not obey them. Little children need to be attended to and taught and instructed often so they have a learned pattern of obedience and know how to follow.

For instance, before we would go to someone’s house, I reminded my children of using their best manners. We’d talk about being a blessing and sharing, and they knew if they did not behave, they would lose the privilege of playing with the others. Follow-through is a must, and getting down to their eye level, talking to them calmly, and listening to their part of the story is also very important.

In Deuteronomy, God gave Israel a choice —life and prosperity, or death and adversity. God told Israel He would bless them if they would obey Him and that there would be consequences if they chose not to obey Him. So we taught our children that —we wanted them to learn to obey us so that we could bless them, but if they chose to disobey, they were choosing to be disciplined by our consequences.

Do you remind your children, before you arrive somewhere, of your expectations for their behavior? Do you find it hard to follow through with consequences? Ask God to help you be consistently diligent in training today.