Lately I have felt God convicting me to pay closer attention to all my actions and not just some of them. He has lovingly reminded me that I am not to set my own standards of what is right and wrong but I am to measure the standard of sin against His standards and not my own. This should not come as a surprise to me for I expect the exact same thing of my own children.
The Lord has been teaching me that if I do something wrong, whether I see it as big or small in my own eyes I am still completely and 100% guilty in His eyes. Sin knows no size in the eyes of God. In His eyes sin is sin period!
When my children sin I expect them to take full responsibility for whatever they did wrong. Regardless of how big or small they view it to be. That would hold no relevance in my eyes. When it comes to my children I too see sin as sin period!
If my son stole one chocolate chip cookie I would see him as guilty no ifs ands or buts about it! It doesn't matter that it was only one cookie and not a whole dozen of them. That is irrelevant. What I am looking at is that he is guilty of sin. Guilty because he stole. Guilty because he broke the rules. The size of what he stole holds no value in the matter. He may think so but what he thinks doesn't matter at that point. What does matter is this, what do I feel the condition of my sons heart is at that time?
Is he sorry for what he did wrong? Is remorse taking place in his heart? Does he take full responsibilty for is actions or is he busy placing blame on someone else for what he did wrong? If he has not taken full responsilbity for his wrong doing then that means he has allowed pride to set in. One cannot expect remorse to set in when pride is in the way. As his mother I need to do what it takes to help him remove his pride so remorse has a chance of setting in.
These are all the same things God is looking for in me. Am I trying to explain away what I did wrong? Am I blaming others instead of admitting my own sin? Even if someone else did wrong that doesn't matter to God and when it comes to my children it doesn't matter to me. I want my children to be concerned with their actions only. They are not responsible for anyone but themselves.
My children will learn how to take responsibility by watching how well I take responsibility. Am I admitting my guilt? Am I accepting my consequences graciously? Or am I explaining away why what I did wrong was not that big of a deal? Many times when we choose to not take responsiblity for our actions, we tend to make our situation worse in the end. By choosing to admit our guilt and accept our consequences graciously from the beginning, it is only then that we will truly learn from our mistake. When we do this it allows us to be forgiven of our sin and frees us to move forward. We will become a better person in the end for it because we chose humility instead of pride.
I want for my children to learn to accept responsibility for what they choose to do! We all have a choice to choose right over wrong! I want my children to always want to choose right! I want for them to learn the ways of God! So next time I may be tempted to explain away my own sin, I will be reminded of this lesson God has taught me. I am building character in them that will last a lifetime.
Dearest Lord, Thank you for always speaking to my heart when I am tempted to do wrong. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit who reminds me in that small still voice to do what is right and pleasing to you. As a mother my actions and behaviors are like a domino effect on my children. So if I want my children to walk with you and to walk in the spirit. If I want them to learn how to fight against their fleshly desire to sin then I must model it for them. When I model it I am showing them exactly what to do. There will never be a need for them to guess how to do it. Oh Lord how much easier it is for us to do the right thing when we see it so willingly lived out before our eyes! Thank you for that reminder! In Jesus name I pray, Amen
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