I’m a fun mom, but only on the weekends. Last Friday night, my youngest asked if tomorrow was a school day. I thought this question might stem from the excitement of the weekend or the perk we offer our kids of all sleeping together for a giant slumber party when it’s not a school night. Imagine my shock when I heard in reply, “Good, you’re fun on the weekends.”
To which I responded, “Aren’t I fun during the week?”
“No, Mom. Well, sometimes after school, but never in the morning before school.”
Ouch. I’m not looking to be the fun, cool mom. I believe it’s my job to train my kids to be functioning members of society, which doesn’t always mean I can be their friend. Actually, it means most of the time I’m not their friend, but the taskmaster of attitudes, activities and homework. I clearly understand I can’t be fun all the time, but I might need to check my attitude in the rush of our morning readiness routine to send my kids out into the world with joy and their apple for school snack rather than grumpiness and a bag of Cheetos.
God is my Father in heaven. The ultimate perfect parent, but would I classify Him as fun? Would I put Him in a box and say He’s only fun when things are going my way? Or when I’m not in the midst of a trial? What if I looked at God as the fun parent rather than the disciplinarian parent? A parent sitting in heaven keeping score of what I did wrong today, which could be a very long list.
Let me be clear, I understand that we need correction. Our human nature gets us off course. The Bible says, spare the rod, spoil the child. In Proverbs 13:24 (NLT), specifically it states, “Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.”
I’m not advocating hitting our kids, but if we unpack what the verse says, we can see if we do not use discipline, it’s as if we hate our children. I couldn’t hate my children. Ever. Some days I might not like them very much or agree with the choices they are making, but I will always love them with a never ending love therefore I need to care enough to disciple them.
What if we looked at God’s discipline as a gift? A gift wrapped in love. A gift which leads to growth and a deeper relationship with our fun, heavenly Father.
God doesn’t want to discipline us, but it becomes necessary to maintain the path He’s laid out for our journey. I don’t take pleasure in disciplining my children’s misbehavior or missing homework assignments, but it’s how we learn. Imagine if I let my kids do whatever they wanted. There would unlimited games of Skylanders on the Wii, unending episodes of Ninjago on Netflix, and candy smashed into their mouths at a blinding speed. This is not healthy, I believe we can all agree on that.
There is no love in absolute freedom. This probably goes against everything the world teaches, but when you love your children, you want to steer them in the right direction. Proverbs 13:24 shows me a lack of discipline equals a lack of love. A lack a discipline actually equals hate.
God loves us enough to teach us through the life lessons we create by our poor choices or sometimes He steps in to take away a choice before we can make a situation worse. It’s when these choices create a situation where God can discipline us He shows His greatest love.
Discipline gets a bad rap. We all want to be happy and get our way. I would argue that getting our way, 100 percent of the time not only hurts us but those around us. God knows our best path to Him and loves us too much to keep us stuck where we are at. He wants us to move toward Him and sometimes this takes disciple and living with the consequences of our choices. I believe we can reduce the amount of discipline required in our lives if we live more present and a little less perfect.
Being present not only means being aware of our surroundings, living in the moment, but it means keeping close to God. It means staying in constant communication with our Creator to understand we don’t have to be perfect because He already sent the one who can be perfect in our place. There is no need to keep striving, grabbing or hoarding for the perfect life at all costs, but we can relax, renew and rejuvenate in the love and disciple that God so freely offers.
Are there areas in your life where you’ve resented God’s intervention? Has it impacted your view as Him being the fun parent? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.