Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Grace & Obedience

Can we dialogue a little bit about teaching grace AND obedience? I feel like I am a baby when it comes to fully grasping the idea of grace, so I think just talking a little bit about this will help bring clarity to me. In the 2 examples the authors gave about how we can incorporate the message of grace, it seems to me that it is hard to get the message across that we can't be obedient on our own and that God will love us no matter what, but that we also expect them to follow certain expectations (like not disrupting family prayer). If we are telling them that "you can't love your brother like God is asking you to, so you need a rescuer to help you" and "you'll never to be able to do this on your own," but then also telling them that they need to be kind towards their brother, does this seem confusing? If they respond out of anger saying something like "well I don't want to believe in Him right now" how does discipline come into play? Does this make sense at all?
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2 comments:

  1. AdelleJuly 7, 2011 at 10:47 PM

    First, can I ask who posted this? Sorry - I figured out just now how to invite all of you to be publishers on here, so it should be much easier and less confusing from now on!

    Second -- I think that Elyse will cover this in more depth as we continue reading. There is a balance. We do need to teach our children "the law" and we do expect them to obey... BUT... WHEN they disobey, we point them immediately to Jesus.

    The only example I can give is with Owen, and since he is so young, I know this is different than those of you with older kids. But for us, I think just praying for him when he disobeys and telling him that he needs Jesus to change his heart to help him to do whatever he was supposed to do. We do discipline him (usually time out and spanking...depending on the situation), and then pray with him. Or sometimes we just talk to him and pray.

    I think in your example about a child saying "I don't want to believe right now" ... I would discipline them and tell them I am praying Jesus changes their heart.

    I am curious to hear other thoughts on this, though!

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  2. thecrowlsJuly 8, 2011 at 7:13 PM

    I posted this- Becky :)

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