Before I became a parent, I swore I would not be of the "because I said so" type. I wanted to always be ready to give an educated answer to my children whenever their developing little minds inquired about a subject. I envisioned myself taking the time to
That's before I knew how brain dead I would become after having children.
In all honesty, the menial tasks of motherhood have me running on autopilot most days. I don't even know why I do the things I do sometimes. I just know we've always done it this way to survive up to this point, so we're gonna keep doing it this way now!
"Why do I need to take a bath, Mom?"
"Because I said so!"
Sometimes that's all I can come up with at 7:30 in the evening when I'm trying to map out the quickest path possible to my nice cozy bed.
But often the questions of the inquiring little minds under my care really do deserve an answer.
And many times I need to put aside laziness and replace those "because I said so" moments with "because the Bible says so" moments.
After all, my words may have the power to change an action, but only God's Word has the power to change a heart. And in the grand scheme of things, the heart is what matters most.
The Bible is clear about my responsibility to entrust His word to my children.
“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
~Deuteronomy 6:4-9~
The other day I asked Silas to clean up a mess he had made. As usual, he was overcome with extreme
I recalled a Bible verse that I had learned as a young child about ants. I explained to Silas that the Bible says in Proverbs 6:6, "Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise!" I gave the best mommy commentary I could on the verse, and I could tell in his eyes that something was clicking on the inside. In just a few short minutes he agreed that cleaning up his mess would be a wise decision.
And just as he bended his knee and began to clean, the sword of the Spirit swung again...
"But Mom, didn't you tell me the other day that the Bible says, 'Two people are better off than one because they can help each other succeed.'? (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Shouldn't we do this together?"
"Why yes, son... Yes, we should."
Now to find some Bible verses about personal responsibility.
