Parenting ScripturesSample

"Know What is True"

Last April I cleared our family calendar for one whole weekend and gave each kid the task of “Spring cleaning” in their room. Their job was to go through their closets, to clean out from under beds, and to organize dresser drawers. (Did I just hear you groan?) Those of us who have children know that this is no small thing. 

I won’t take up your time relaying the stories of their struggles that weekend. You can imagine, I’m sure. Instead, I want to fast-forward to Monday morning when I went into my oldest child’s room to grab a pen from his desk drawer at the start of our homeschool day together. That drawer was a disaster! More of a disaster on Monday than it had been on Friday because he had simply slid everything off of his desk into that top drawer. 

There are so many analogies we could make here, about the sin we sweep under the rug, and the cleaning God desires to do in us first and then our kids. But I walked out of my thirteen-year-old's room with a different application:

As I fumbled through the mess of his desk drawer, grumbling all the way, I came across a piece of crumpled lined paper that looked obviously out of place. I picked it up and put it back on his desk for him to file away when I noticed that his neat small script had scrawled a Bible verse followed by a prayer. My son, the one who had hurriedly shoved everything off of his desk into that drawer had, at another time, stopped to write out a verse and a prayer. 

How often do we get hung up on the mess, and completely miss the message of what is true and right and noble and good in our homes each day? Sometimes I get so weary from the sound of my own nagging that I purpose to simply stop. And when I do stop, do you know what I find? A whole lot of wonderful truth hidden in the top shelf of our homelife together. 

God’s Word reminds us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. When we do slow down, there’s a chance that we’ll discover a wealth of excellent and praiseworthy people in our midst. Let me challenge you to write yourself a list of all your good blessings today. And jot down Philippians 4:8 as well. And when you’re through with that exercise, take a moment to tell your children what you enjoy about them today. 

Let the Word of God transform the words you speak in your home to your loved ones.