The Transformation of Habits June 1, 2007
Posted by Joe in : General Lessons , trackbackErin,
Tomorrow is officially your day because I am finally posting again! This won’t be long (at least I think so now), but it flows from the our family time this morning. I’ll explain in detail for anyone listening.
During our family time, we move through a child’s catechism with Abigail. We are currently in a review stage where we go through all the questions to make sure she has them down. She usually does quite well, but there are always a few that she just can’t seem to get. Today, she was confused over the questions regarding a sin of omission and commission. I am sure you can understand why! The two words sound the same and they both refer to sin. From the very beginning, it has been difficult for her to distinguish between the two and today was no exception.
So I asked her the question, “What is a sin of omission” about 5-10 times. I said the full answer a number of times and then had her to the same. But even after 3-5 times of saying the same question, there would still be a tone of hesitancy in her voice, or she would just get the question wrong. She would say the answer to the question, “What is a sin of COmmission?” And then we had a short laugh.
What struck me about all this, however, was the way in which it shows how difficult it is to replace a bad habit with a good one. When it comes to Abigail getting the question right, it is not that big of deal (right now!). But when it comes to her responding in prompt obedience to her mom and dad, that is a very big deal. And as parents, the longer we let a certain habit go, the harder it will be to replace it with a good one.
Currently, we have seen that with Abigail. It is our fault really. We were giving her too much room for whining and other small signs of rebellion. This past week, we have placed the standard back where it belongs and the fight is much harder than it has to be. The lesson then? Simple: stay on top of things! And/or get on top of things as soon as possible.
This simple lesson has led us to greater diligence with little Elijah. He is only a year old now, but we can already see certain habits of rebellion developing that need to be addressed. His little, “No, no, no” (barely understandable) is really cute now, but the quicker he learns not to say no to Dad and Mom, the better!
Enough for now. Let’s love our children enough to keep the standard high. It is a lot of consistent work, but it is a whole lot better than asking and answering the same question a hundred times in order to make it right (and you know what I am alluding to there!).
Seeking to grow in diligence with you,
Joe
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