Matters of the Heart

Obedience. We desire this for our children. But why? Sometimes it’s easy to forget the ‘why’ of obedience. When I am out with our children, I can easily become prideful when others say ‘what well-behaved children you have.’ I have to remind myself about the heart of the matter. Outward obedience means nothing if there isn’t change in the heart. It is our prayer as parents that our children’s hearts will be changed and made sensitive to the Lord as we teach them to obey. We don’t want them to obey so that others can pat us on the back (although that is tempting at times). We desire for them to obey so that their lives will bring glory to Christ. We pray that their little hearts will understand that God gave them Mommy and Daddy as the authority in their lives. We pray they will see that obedience to God brings glory to Christ (that is a lesson for Mommy too). It’s easy to focus on the outward behavior and get consumed with that but I pray we will also focus on their hearts as well!