How Come You Are Hanging Onto That?

“For, if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matt. 6:14-15).

Hey Gang:  The older I get the more I think man has lost his noodles.  It seems, if it is in the Bible, it is fair game for those who really do not have a clue what is in the Bible.  In a workshop some years back, a very angry man showed up at one of the sessions. He announced that he was there by court order and had no intention to listen.

We went over the ground rules for the sessions and informed the group that we taught Biblical principles; he said he did not believe in that Bible stuff.  When asked what Bible stuff he did not believe in, he could not give any examples - which was a common denominator of most of the folks in that class.

He choose to sit in the last seat, in the last row, with jaw set, and arms crossed.  We received some basic information, prior to the sessions, and he was described as arrogant, belligerent and a few other adjectives that I did not understand.  (Frustration from the court worker that was assigned his case).

This man lived up to his billing, for the first three sessions, last in first out, jaw set, arms crossed and nary a word from his mouth.  But, in session four, the session was based on sanity and boundaries.  Homes with boundaries are homes that parents are in the driver’s seat and there are specific rules that one does not tamper with.

Well, it so happened when he got home that day, his house was a mixture of a war zone and an out of control zoo.  All of a sudden the things that were suggested that day began to surface in what had been a closed brain.  He remembered that homes without enforced boundaries fulfill the adage that insanity is not hereditary it is caused by your kids!  For the first time in many moons his voice got louder than the mayhem that filled the airways.

To make the long story short, at the next class he looked like the dog that ate the steak that was thawing on the heater.  He was smiling, and that concerned us.  Anger we can handle but arrogance on the smiling face of an angry and arrogant man was something not covered in the manual.  After all were settled into their seats I asked him, “What in the world happened to you?”  He explained his arrival home the last time, the mayhem, and for the first time in many moons he asserted his kingship in his own home. 

In the weeks that followed, he became our most committed student.  This brought up the question, “Why did you put up with the mayhem all of those years? Did you ever hear that boundaries not only bring peace to the stronghold of the home but it removes the need to tranquilizers and anti-acids?” His answer was a very common one – “That is the way I was raised and did not know any better.”

In my more than fifty years of working with parents of children that were termed “out of control”, I was always amazed that when we presented the one thing, the Bible and its training principles as the only thing that truly worked, parents were closed-minded and hesitant to try these proven methods that had a lasting impact on children. (Maybe Satan had a hand in helping to destroy the fear and respect of the Lord and parents through sp-called learned professors and the media.

 True, by the time we got involved, the child and family had traversed down the road a piece and getting them from the wrong road to the right one was, in most cases like building a light house on the sand.   When we explained that you do not begin with the principles, but with the Source of the principles, sometimes we would see a glimmer of light.  In other words Deuteronomy 6:4-9 contains the principles of how to raise your children in a sane and peaceful way; but it begins by introducing you to the Source of those principles – Creator God who has a great deal of knowledge of what makes His creations work best. 

Here are three principles that stick out like the proverbial thumb: “The Lord is our God.” You will love him and model him in your house; and you must understand that every moment you have your children under your care you are to be in a teaching and witnessing mode.  (Gramps Hillbilly rendition)

Soooo, friends and neighbors, are God’s ways written on your hands and frontals of your forehead and on the doorposts of your house and on your gates? Today Gramps would say, “write them on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, TV, computer, rear view mirror of your vehicle.”   Keep in mind your kids are watching you 24/7.

Blessings,

Gramps