Discipline

This past Sunday, there was just a brief mention in the Easter sermon about our children disobeying and even that being sin.  This had me thinking....

We HAVE to discipline our children, even with the small things.  Discipline can vary of course depending on the situation but ignoring bad behavior or the "cute" rotten moments, isn't okay.  Sin is sin, big or small.  If we allow our children to disobey, to backtalk, to stomp their feet, roll their eyes, to hurt their siblings, say ugly things, then we are giving them permission to sin again.  If we do not correct them or guide them to make better choices, we are teaching them to sin to get their way or to sin rather than communicate. 

"Sin is pleasure and sin is fun.  If you disagree with this, you haven't found the right sin!"  So to allow our children to sin, gives them a sense of pleasure and pride knowing they got their way or even at times got away with something they shouldn't have. 

We've been known to be hard on our children.  We have rules that are meant to be followed and if those rules are broken there are consequences.  We've also been told how well behaved our children are, how appreciative they are, and how kind and compassionate they are.  This isn't to say they are always like this!  But outside of our home and with other people, we definitely expect them to be on their best behavior.  We also prefer that if they are going to act out, that they do so with us rather than with or around other people.  To say they are sinless, is not the case, as we are all sinners.  Inside our house we are always parenting, always guiding, always reading scripture and talking about the various ways we sin.  We strive as parents to make sure their actions are what Christ would want from us.  Sometimes we fail.  Sometimes we succeed.  Sometimes we are at a loss and fall on our knees in prayer.

But this I know to be true.  Any misbehavior, wrong thoughts, actions or words, are sin.  No matter the age, these very things are sin.  As parents, we need to teach our children right from wrong and we need to teach them what sin is and how to avoid it. 

In the sermon, our pastor also said this: "We can choose how to live our lives, but we do not choose the consequences."  And how true this is!  Our children can choose to obey or disobey, but we choose their consequences and only through those consequences will they decide whether sin is something they want to continue or learn from and change their ways.