A Lesson from a 4 Year Old

Ephesians 6:4
⁴Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

I admit, as a Christian dad, I often fall short of the Biblical expectations placed upon me. I try to raise my kids in a way that honors and glorifies God, and I’m trying to teach them to learn to love Him… but I often fall short. I pray that one day they’ll come to know and love Him far more than I ever have or ever will.

It’s interesting, though, how when we’re trying our hardest to raise our kids to know God’s will and purposes how we often find ourselves being taught… usually seeing something in our own lives reflected in the lives of our kids. I had that happen again just this weekend.

Jeffrey is a great kid… I love him more than words can say. Of course, as all kids do, he tends to get into trouble on occasion… hitting his sister, arguing with mom and dad, telling lies… pretty much the standard struggles with being obedient that kids experience. Obviously, these behaviors result in discipline.

In doing so, Nancy and I have always emphasized that he needs to apologize for wrongdoing as part of being discpline. It has always seemed a reasonable expectation… it forces him to admit wrong behavior, and, in at least a small way, make it right again.

Recently, I’ve been trying to convey the idea that wrong behavior is not just wrong because daddy says so… it’s wrong because God sets the standard for right and wrong behavior. Maybe that’s a bit of a hard concept for a 4 year old to grasp, but he seems to get it. As such, When he has done something wrong, I’ve recently tried to include prayer as part of discpline… basically that he needs to tell God he’s sorry as well. For the most part, this has gone pretty well.

This weekend, though, Jeffrey and I were at that point in the discipline process… talking about praying to God about being sorry for doing something wrong. During that conversation, he said something that made me want to laugh and cry simultaneously (if that’s possible).

I asked him, “Jeffrey, would you like to ask Jesus to help you to be good?”

His response? “Daddy, I don’t need Jesus to help me be good. I can do it on my own.”

I know he’s four years old… but that simple statement really struck me… it was Jeffrey speaking, but the words encapsulated the attitude I exhibit frequently. I tend to rely on myself rather than Christ. I try to beat down my own path. I like to fly solo.

I fall far too often as a result.

I’m the one who had my eyes opened during that particular period of discipline. In training and instructing Jeffrey in the Lord’s ways… God used Jeffrey to touch my heart.