Ok...right off the bat.... bad behavior a good problem?? No way! Are you crazy? We all want our children to make their beds daily without complaining, always wait patiently when adults are talking, and respond to cooked broccoli with a resounding "YES!" right??
Behavior has been a major topic of discussion at our house lately. We have a toddler who is slap in the middle of the terrible 2s. He is text book. lol - And then a preschooler who can often pushes our limits as well. Josh and I have talked a lot about discipline and what it looks like for our kids, what they respond to, and what their love languages might be. It HAS to be a topic of conversation around here because it is what we are in the middle of.
What we are discovering is that terrible attitudes, tantrums, disobedience, and disrespect are actually an ok thing to SEE in our kids. The bible tells us that we born into sin and that it is problem for us from day 1. So...why does it surprise us when we come face to face with it in our children? It is actually a blessing to SEE bad behavior that is noticeable, eye-catching and obvious. This, in turn, gives us a perfect opportunity to speak into their little hearts. If there is sin, (which we know there is because of what the bible tells us) but you don't SEE it, that seems more scary in a way to me. There were times in my life when from all outward appearances I seemed to be a mannerly, Godly, sweet natured little child. Despite this veneer, there was lots of inward sin in my life that no one knew about so no one had to opportunity to speak into my life and help me see it.
SEEing the sin is so important for us parents. The exposure of it humbles us and shows us our need for Christ. There are no good kids! We are all born into sin. All of us...the sweet little girl who seems to never do anything wrong and the kid in your classroom at school that has given you gray hair. Its just that some sin is seen and some isn't.
We should be thankful for the SEEN sin in our lives and our children. SEEing it is the only way we can repent and ask for God's grace to change.
