Question: “Do you ever pick your battles? I often wonder when I am disciplining my son if others would just ignore some of these things?
Answer: If that means ignoring bad behavior or a character that needs to be addressed, then no I wouldn’t ignore it! Correcting and training children in the small details will prevent many large issues from every happening! I don’t want to be lazy or find anything taking my time away from training my children. I also don’t discipline children as often as others think I should and truthfully that’s okay with me. I must stand before God accountable for the training up of my children. Not my girl friend, not my neighbor… me! That is an awesome responsibility and I truly want to hear these words, “Well done my good and faithful servant…”. You've heard me say it before, "I don’t believe a child should be disciplined for anything they weren’t trained to do." I find that too many people assume their child should know better and discipline out of frustration. I also believe in showing mercy but not to the point of the using it as an excuse for laziness on my part. I also don’t let my children abuse mercy. I find over and over again in the Scriptures that God did show mercy, many times, however, if the people would still not repent from their actions then they were disciplined.
Bottom line, if God reveals an issue to me then I address it. I don’t ever walk away without addressing the “tone of voice” or the “proud eyes”. I find that if I deal with these subtle issues we don’t have big ones! I have a relationship with my children. They know that I desire nothing more than their success. I don’t think you can separate that relationship from the discipline and still have the same results. Your child has to know, “Mommy loves me. Mommy has taken time to teach me not to do such and such. I have refused instruction and therefore there is a consequence for my actions.”
Hope that helps! Keep in touch as you can! I would love to hear how the Lord leads you!
With much love,
Mrs. Joseph Wood
I think this was my question! You bring up a great point that I never knew until recently--we are "training" our kids and we need to make sure the expectation is set before we do any sort of disciplining.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that once you pick an issue then we must stay consistent to guide and correct the problem, however, can you provide some examples of things that maybe you would "overlook?" I don't know if that makes sense, and I'm sure it differs with each family, but I'm just curious if there is anything.
Thanks for taking the time! I always value your opinion which is why I ask of it often! :)
Clare