Josh made a rule awhile back to stop the bickering between the kids in their tiny bathroom every night. That rule is that when one is in there brushing his/her teeth, that the other cannot be in there. They must wait their turn. That's all fine and good. I get it. Less hassle, less needless pushing and shoving and subsequent fighting and tattling and on and on. Less is more. I get it!
The RULE is meant to create peace ... but I am finding that it doesn't really. What it has now created is a butthead kid LORDING that rule over the other to force them from the room, or demand they were first, or drag out brushing their teeth just to annoy the other kid waiting to get in to brush theirs. GAH!! This is what I have disliked about rules like this ... they don't train the kids in kindness and common sense, they just remove the opportunity to practice kindness at all. Sigh. Josh's well-meaning rule has gotten morphed into the kids using it to RULE over each other and, in so doing, selfishness and aggravation and pride is still the rule in their flesh. Little pharisees! Keeping Daddy's RULE to a T (and then some) just to LORD it over the other and have some semblance of control or winning ... in essense making themselves the lord. Ugh. Heaven help us.
And then it hit me ... isn't that just the same sneaky little temptation that so many of us Christians fall for? Knowing what God has outlined in Scripture as His best for us (His RULES) and then taking it upon ourselves to LORD his rules over others like WE are a fit judge? And this is one thing when we do it to our fellow believers, it's a whole other injustice when we look down our noses at unbelievers. Oy.
Heaven help us to step off the throne that isn't ours and just simply humble ourselves and follow Him. Heaven help us to stop drifting into thinking that we can BE God.
And along those lines, heaven help me to get the kids to see that we follow rules to serve HIS LORDSHIP in our lives rather than using the rules as a means to serve our own lordship.
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Such good insight from this. Man, am I guilty of that. My pastor hubby had to remind me just the other night of this attitude I had and that our calling is not to make people change, but to feed the sheep. I did ask if I could take the shepherd's hook to a couple of their noggins. :)
Rules or no rules such as this, your kiddos are just being typical sinful siblings.
Ahhh, feeding the sheep. Another great example of this lesson!
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