What will your children do?

Day 7: Genesis 25-28

This evening has been a frustrating one for me as a parent. I've constantly had to discipline one of my children due to her disobedience, whining, and stubbornness. She will not do what she is told and thinks that she knows more than me about what she needs. She has been sent to her room at least twice and has been threatened with punishment, including spankings, too many times to count. I'm about to lose my temper.

So, I took a shower to cool off.

Now I'm m reading the passage for the day. One of the first things I read about is Isaac telling Abimelech that Rebekah (Isaac's wife) is his sister. Does this story sound familiar? Several years earlier, Isaac's father Abraham does the same thing with his wife Rebekah. For the sake of argument, let's assume that Isaac knew about Abraham's actions (it just seems too coincidental not to, righkt?). Years later, Isaac does the same thing with his own wife. Isaac had learned from his father, and in this case, it's not a good thing. Isaac made the same mistake that his father Abraham did--and it could have cost him his wife...and his life!! Children learn from the actions of their parents.

And then in chapter 27, Rebekah encourages Jacob to trick Isaac into giving him the blessing of the firstborn. She's not a very good example to her son either. It's no surprise that years later Jacob suffers a great deal when the favoritism he shows to his son Joseph is not taken well by his other sons.

Yikes! I don't want to be reminded of this on an evening when I've had enough crying and whining and disobeying for a week!! But I don't want my daughter to behave the same way I did tonight. I want to teach her patience and love above all else. But if I'm going to teach her this, it would help if my actions showed the same. I really do want to pass on to my children good things--things that God sees as good and valuable. What a reminder!