Life is made up of choices. What choices are we teaching our children to make?

 

Life is made up of choices.  What choices are we teaching our children to make?

        Life is indeed made up of choices.  We make them every day.  Before our feet hit the floor every morning, we make a choice.  Every choice we make comes with some type of consequences, good and/or bad.  There are some choices we make that have unintended consequences which were not even considered. However, once we make that choice we cannot take it back.  Then we have to live with those consequences.  As adults, those unintended consequences are often difficult to live with.  What we do not realize is that our children are watching us.  They are waching us make choices that we know are not directed by God.  They see us settling for less than what God has planned for us.  

    Do they ever see or hear us praying to God for guidance in decisions that have to be made?  As Christians, we are to be modeling the Christian life for our children.  We should be praying with them, praying for them, and teaching them to take all of their cares to the Lord.  God gave us our children to love, to raise in the nurture and admonition of God, to lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to live a life that would be pleasing unto God.  Our children are a gift that we should be thankful for every day.  

    We are to teach them to be responsible for the choices that they make and to realize that they have to face any consequences of those choices that they make.  However, what happens when our child sees us make an irresponsible choice?  I will tell you what happens, they think it is okay.  They watch us make irresponsible choices so they think their choices can be irresponsible too.  Accountability seems to have no place in the world today.  Sadly, not even in the Christian world.  This attitude has quickly spread into our schools as well.  When we as parents do not hold our children accountable we are setting them up for failure.  If our child has homework or a school project to do, we expect them to complete it, right?  Or do we really?  Do we allow them to not do their homework?  Do we stay too busy for them to do their homework?  If this is what we are doing as parents, we are definitely setting them up for failure in life.  Without teaching them responsibility,  how can we get them to understand that as adults there are bills to pay and if we don't pay them then there will be consequences.  How do we teach them that in order to get paid for their job, they have to show up and do the work?  That teaching begins at home and is reinforced in school.  In order for them to get the good grade, they have to do the work.  They have to do it, not a parent doing it for them.  They should develop a good work ethic which begins in school and should continue when then enter the working class.  They should take pride in their hard work because it will always pay off.  

     Responsibility and accountability for choices made seems to be a lost trait.  We all think that the entire world should revolve around us and whatever we want to do or whatever we think is best we should be able to do.  No questions asked.  However, when we stand before Jesus Christ, we will know what accountability is and we will know who is the center of everything.  We must always remember that our children are looking to us to set the example.  

    God gave us a gift in our children.  He didn't expect us to be irresponsible with them.  Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6 KJV

In His service,

Karen