Titus
Titus lied to my wife the other day.
He’s six. He’s going through that stage where he thinks he can get away with whatever it is that he did by lying about it. He doesn’t realize that his lies are obvious.
And so he tried it the other day. He was supposed to brush his teeth before bed. Heather asked him if he had done that simple task. He said yes. However, his toothbrush was dry and he still had food in his mouth.
He lied.
After his punishment, he and I had a good talk about honesty. I think I kept it down on his level… mainly.
We discussed lying and telling the truth. We talked about honesty. We mentioned that Jesus is, after all, the truth. And we talked about how to live lives that reflected God’s ways.
Titus is only six, but he’s all boy. By this point in the conversation, he was feeling pretty contrite. His eyes were swimming with tears, but he wasn’t crying. Not yet. I guess it’s some pre-programmed macho instinct us guys have wired into us. We just have to be tough. Tears aren’t tough.
Titus’ eyes are brimming with moisture, but there’s no drippage yet, so he’s not crying. He looked at me and said, “But God’s ways are hard!”
And at that point, my macho instinct kicked in. Titus and I both had wet eyes. But we weren’t crying.
Because he’s right. God’s ways are hard. It’s not easy to be a man of honesty and integrity. It’s not easy to live a pure life. It’s not easy to serve others when I want to serve myself. It’s hard. In fact, it’s downright difficult. God’s ways are hard!
What started out as a teaching opportunity for a father with his son became a teaching moment for the father with the Father. God has been working on that thought in my head for the past few days. It’s been ruminating and my mind hasn’t been able to let it go.
God’s ways are hard!
And yet he has called me to his ways regardless.
Two thoughts have been predominant in this process this week, so far. One, I find myself taking the easy way all too often, because God’s ways are hard. And two, no one ever said that I had to do God’s ways alone. How wonderful that we have a Helper.
So, Titus and I have been thinking of ways that I can be a helper in his life, along with the Helper. And Titus hasn’t lied for the past few days, either.
What about you? What do you find especially hard about God’s ways? And what encourages you to keep on? How does the Helper assist you? I’d like to know…
What a wonderful heart warming exchange of ideas and values, we lead by example. Gods ways are hard, but we have it easy compared to what His Son went through for us.
I have a 13 year old grandson, the other day he came to me and profoundly asked "Papa, why do people say bad words ?" I replied "because they don't have anything good to say and that's what is in their heart" He quickly replied "Is that why you don't talk a lot, because you don't want to say bad words?" I replied, "No I stopped saying bad words a long time ago when I got sick from the taste of lye soap" He replied back "they have special soap for people that tell lies? I almost lost my composure! I said, "they don't make that lye soap any more so I guess that's why more people say bad words now, but I still have a big bar of it…just in case I hear a bad word I can wash it out!
We live in the country and Him and his sister are home schooled using a Bible based curriculum so they aren't exposed much to the ways of the world or government ran schools. We can't shield our children all their lives from the ways of the world, but we have a duty to arm them with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Word so they can resist it. By teaching them to know when they see and hear evil that they don't have to take part in its sinful ways and use its words, makes them feel good about themselves.
We had them in a Christian school until NAFTA destroyed manufacturing and we could no longer afford it, but it didn't take long to realize they weren't meant to attend Public school.
My grandson and I talk much more now than ever and his sister has always been her Grammy's girl. I thank the Lord for these little ones, I am blessed!
God Bless you and yours and thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comments Jim.
It's a struggle to raise godly children in this culture. Especially when you have five kids to work with! But we do the best we can, trusting that God will be the main force in their (and our) lives.
We homeschool also. It is a blessing to be able to keep the enemy from infiltrating the minds of my children. His agenda is very obvious to me in the public school system. Not because of a lack of Christian teachers, there are plenty of those. But because their hands are tied by our government's involvement in the public education system.
And so we chose to homeschool to avoid a lot of issues that our kids don't need to deal with yet, and to be the main influence in their lives for as long as we can.
Thanks for your input. Hope all is well with you and your family!