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Put it into Practice

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Phil. 4:8

I am tired of cleaning up after my children. Yes, it is true and I apologise to all of you endlessly patient and enduring mothers. I used to be you. I homeschooled my children when they were younger. We had the chore charts and they learned how to do all of the household chores properly. Can I brag a little and tell you they were pretty good at it? Not all boys know how to cook a meal, clean a bathroom and do laundry; but my guys do.

Now my problem.... They don't do it! Not only do they procrastinate at the 'household chores' I ask them to do, they don't even clean up after themselves half the time! Can I tell you how frustrated I am at this. I am seriously bummed. Now that I am in school full-time, I thought they would take up some slack but my oldest just got a job at Dairy Queen, plays in 2 Christian bands, does drama, band and chorus and is never home. His room is embarrassing (evidently not to him). My youngest plays sports and has way too many social events and friends.

Ok, what is the point of all of the griping? They have learned it from me but don't put it into practice! So I was talking to God about this today and he reminded me of these verses. You see, I grew up in church and know what truth is. I know how to be noble and I understand the importance of purity and doing what is right. But I admit that sometimes I don't choose the lovely, excellent or praiseworthy thing.

How frustrating that must be to my heavenly Father. He has entrusted me with the Holy Spirit, knowing that the power I need to think and dwell on these things is possible through this gift in my life. It is time to put it into practice. Time to grow up in the Lord and choose to do right. The knowledge is there. The ability is there. But sometimes we get so busy with our own plans and ways that we neglect the very person He designed for us to be.

And you know, like my children, if we keep ourselves right and do what we should do day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, we won't have a big mess to clean up when God finally points our mess out to us!

Comments

Mara said…
Great post. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with children that don't do what I taught them...LOL. I appreciate your comparison. I'm so thankful that we have a patient, loving merciful God.
Anonymous said…
I love your post! Praise God we serve a merciful and patient God!!

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