BIBLE PASSAGE:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today
are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever noticed how much we can learn from observing dogs?
For instance, what is the first thing they do in the morning?
They stretch their muscles to get them ready for the day.
It’s a good practice for us to mimic in order to reduce the chances of muscle injuries.
We can also learn from their natural reactions.
Have you ever tried to take a tasty bone away from a dog?
It’s a good way to get bitten!
But what happens when you put a steak down on the ground?
The dog will drop the bone and go to the steak.
We can act the same way sometimes, can’t we?
Whenever we see something that seems attractive,
we find ourselves forsaking something good and lasting, as we gravitate
toward something else that may provide brief pleasure, but does not last.
Hopefully we learn later that we should pause and evaluate
before yielding to our natural inclinations.
This should also teach us a lesson in parenting.
Rather than trying to provide our children with all kinds of “things”
we should spend time teaching them to enjoy what they already have.
The kids are learning how to become quickly bored with their possessions,
and that they do not have to earn anything, because they are entitled to everything.
This can create all kinds of problems in children
as they search for their value and self-esteem.
It’s a lesson that unfortunately continues into adult life and causes some
to spend an inordinate amount of time searching for something new.
As a result, they fail to fully appreciate and enjoy
the blessings they already have from the Lord.
Satan can use this desire to lead us in many wrong directions.
The truth is, children will not love us more if we smother them with stuff,
and they will not love us any less if we give them less stuff.
What children love the most is the time we spend
interacting with them and making them feel loved and important.
Being a slave to a cell phone does the opposite; it makes them feel unimportant.
One other thing to consider is, giving our children an opportunity to learn.
Too often parents will quickly intervene whenever they see their children struggling.
It is never wrong to help our children,
but how we do it and the timing is of utmost importance.
When I was child, my father was a good man,
but lacked patience whenever I was trying to learn how to do new things.
Rather than giving me an opportunity to fail and then explaining
what should be done, he would intervene quickly at the first sign
of my going in the wrong direction, tell me to go play, and do it himself.
You know what it taught me?
It taught me to try to do things as quickly as possible before someone intervenes.
However, going forward, it reminded me of the importance of
allowing my own children time to fail, to ask for help, and to learn.
Parenting is a tough job that requires a lot of thought before any action is taken.
Many times, children are never shown the riches of Jesus Christ.
Children need to be shown that what they have in the Lord Jesus Christ
is so much better than what this world has to offer.
ACTION:
Are you a parent?
Think about the ways that you negatively discipline your children.
Ask God to show you positive ways to reward and teach your children.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, teach me how to remind my children how blessed
we are to be loved by You. Show me how I can point them to You, Jesus,
and the Holy Spirit through my words and actions. Remind me that they
are watching everything I do and that I should show them that my faith
in You is real, and that my desire is to obey and please You. Thank You
for loving me even when I am unlovable.”
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BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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