Spiritual Training

"Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4 (New Century Version)

Today I caught my 9 year old in a lie. It was just a 'little lie,' but a lie nonetheless. He had it all justified in his 9 year old mind--he didn't want his older brother to get mad at him and take away the privilege of playing on his computer game.

So, here I am faced with this child of mine, with big crocodile tears running down his freckled face. I knew that I had to punish him for the lie, no matter how small. His spirit's fate depended on it. But, oh, how hard it was. So even though my mother's heart wanted to just hold him and dry his tears, I couldn't. I had to do the right thing--train him in the way of his & my Lord.

Just this past Sunday, Pastor Eric talked about this issue. Christian mothers having to be strong and consistent in the upbringing of our children. So, instead of his brother taking away the privilege, I had to.

Do you think your heavenly Father goes through this? When we stray, when we do wrong, when we sin against Him, He has to punish us. Does He enjoy punishing us? I truly don't think so. But, just as I had to tell Joey, if I didn't love him so much, I wouldn't punish Him. I wouldn't care how his spirit was being trained or what kind of man he would grow up becoming. It is because of my great love for him and for my Lord, that I have to. The same is with your God. If He didn't care about your spirit or your heart, He would just let you flounder through this world. But because of His great love, not only did He die for you, He punishes you when you do wrong so you have a lesson learned.

Is it easy being a godly parent? No! But is it worth it? Most definitely yes. When you hear your child talk God--it makes a parent's spiritual heart explode. Your God has the same feelings--when you get the picture and finally catch the lesson learned--is He proud of you? You better believe it!