Just because they're my children does that mean I shouldn't
say "Please" or "Thank you" to them?
Just because I'm their mother, does that mean I have the right to be
short-tempered and rude to them?
Do I speak more kindly and patiently to a visiting niece, nephew, or neighbor child than to my own?
Do I speak more kindly and patiently to a visiting niece, nephew, or neighbor child than to my own?
(Read the rest of this post: Homemade Kindness)
Do you have more patience in public? Or with other children?
Why is this? Could it be that we care more about what people outside our home think of us? Do we care about our reputation more than we care about our babies? Do we use their unconditional love of us as an excuse to be unkind?
As we play the "Orange Rhino Game" here in the Cook house, we are emphasizing kindness. Kindness, and love- these are the things we are asking God to grow in our hearts.
I could easily go a day without yelling at my children, or losing my patience. All I would have to do is hide from them.
But that's not really the point, is it? It's not about the stats.
It's about love.
Love is patient and kind, even when it interacts with other, imperfect, loved-ones.
And when that standard seems too high (every day?) we mothers and children get to take refuge in the hands of our God, under His robe of righteousness. He is patient, compassionate, and long-suffering. His love for us is great, and it does not crumble into selfishness under trial like mine does.
Surely this God whose love for us is solid will finish in us the work he has begun.
May He continue to uphold us through His Word and by His Spirit.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action,and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
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