Obedience and Discipline

Over the last several weeks, I've been praying to for "spiritual wisdom and understanding" (which is what Paul prayed for the early churches in the letters he wrote to them.) I thought to myself, I need that too.

Well, God had different things in store for me! In Proverbs 3:11, it states, "Do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves".

I'll be quite honest, I needed a little disciplining. Enter the word "obedience".

God has been dealing with me about being obedient to Him. Yes, I obey the commandments and I seek forgiveness for my sins, but that wasn't what He was dealing with me about. He was dealing with about "fearing" him, which is "reverent obedience" of which I did not have. Yes, I love the Lord, yes I believe in Him, yes I desire to do the things of God, but was I being reverent in my obedience? No.

Before you can gain wisdom, you must gain fear and obedience. So, in essence I was praying for spiritual wisdom out of order from what God needed from me first.

Today as I was getting ready to bring the girls to school, Elisan came into the bathroom and said to me, "Mom, I know you love me, but sometimes you act like you don't." I was totally taken aback... Who wants to hear that? I was thinking to myself, 'I really need to work on the fruit of the spirit more. '

But then she went on, "Like when you get mad at me and tell me to go upstairs to my room."

I said, "Baby, I do that to show you that your behavior is unacceptable. I do that so you will know how to act... NOT because I don't love you."

I went on, "Doesn't God give us the 10 Commandments? And what do they tell us? They tell us how to act. The tell us how God wants us to be. And when we don't do what God tells us to do, He lets us know. That is why we ask forgiveness, right?"

She answered, "Yes."

And then I went on, "God loves us and he wants us to do the right things... make the right choices. That's all I want for you, baby. I'm not being mean when I have to discipline you. I do that because I love you."

Then she said, "So, you love me all the time, even when I do mean stuff."

And of course I answered, "Yes, baby. I love you all of the time!"

Isn't that just precious? And isn't that just what God wants from us? He wants us to obey Him, but not just His commands. He wants us to fully submit ourselves to Him, not because he is a 'ruler', but because He loves us and we love Him. Because HE knows what is best for us. Fully submitting our obedience to the Lord will only mean the best for us. Isn't that what we want for our children?

Thank you Lord for reminding me of your just ways through my little girl today.