NATURAL CONSEQUENCES

Consequences don't have to be negative but we usually think of them as so.  We deal with consequences every day.  What we eat, words we say...or don't say - everything we do has consequences.


If you've read through this month's HomeFront Monthly, you might have noticed the section titled "Natural Consequences."  The section begins with this statement:

Sometimes in course correction, pain is obvious.  It's the natural consequence.

While I find no joy in ushering pain into my child's life, my natural instinct as a father is to insist that my idea of pain will correct my child's course.  Unfortunately, this isn't true!  Most of the time, the pain I usher into my child's life does only one thing:  build resentment.  Don't read between the lines here.  There's no hidden agenda.  I'm not talking about spanking verses time out or any other methods of discipline.


When I correct my child in MY wisdom I am teaching my her that she needs to live by MY rules.  While I admit most of my rules are anchored in good intentions, my child wasn't created to live by MY rules. She was created to live a life of dependence on God and HIS rules.


No one knows my child better than God.  He created her for His special purpose.  That said, He knows what pain she needs to encounter to correct her course.  It's my job, as a spiritual parent, to let her faith be tried, walk with her through the pain (building up in love) and help her see the corrected path that will bring healing.


Hebrews 12:11-13 says it this way:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.  Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

There's a natural progression God has established to lead my child through course correction.  I need to give God room to let this happen.  That takes a great deal of faith on my part.  


So, embark on this journey with me.  Evaluate WHO leads in correcting your child's course:  God or you?  Let's make our own course corrections allowing God to use us to bring healing and a corrected course into our child's life.


For more information on the environment of Course Correction click on the HomeFront Monthly link from last week's post.


Use HomeFront Weekly to walk through Biblical examples of course correction.  Here they are:


Kids Safari (Preschool/Kindergarten) HomeFront Weekly
Kids Summit (Elementary) HomeFront Weekly