Love Does Not Dishonor Others

When praying for this week’s topic, God remained silent. It took me a bit to realize that his silence actually speaks volumes. In order to hear and understand God, we must first honor him. What does this look like? There many interpretations for this question and no wrong answer that can be linked to the Bible. For our discussion, a way to honor him is to spend time with him. Not just when we want something, but praying to him, having conversations just to say hi, or tell him about our day.

But most of all, it is about acts of service. Or, as he put it when I finally stopped asking for guidance and just listened: You must give in order to receive. Now, we are not just taling about throwing a $20 bill in the church coffers every week, even though that is also important, or ushering or working in the children’s ministry. It is about showing the love of Christ to those around us. Whether it is buying a meal for the homeless or just striking up a conversation with a mom at the playground who is standing apart from the others and looks lonely. In this way, we bring honor to God.

What does it look like to honor our children? We already clothe them, feed them, play with them and try to raise them with love and respect; but do he honor them? In regards to our family, we honor them when we shoe them respect.

Here are a few ways we can show our children that respect:

Listen to them when they talk. Put down your phone or whatever it is you are doing. Give them your undivided attention and don’t interrupt.

Answer their questions. Don’t brush them off as repetitive or unimportant. If they are like my son, Ben and into the Why and How stage, don’t just turn on the t.v. to the show How It’s Made to show him how a truck is made. Sit there with him so you can learn to and clarify anything you see, as it is inevitable that he will have more questions.

Don’t talk for your child when they are asked questions by others. They need to learn how to make themselves understood and to be able to communicate with people outside of the family.

Let your child do things for themselves, whether they need to get themselves dressed or they want to wash dishes to earn money for a new toy. Take the time to teach them how to do it properly and then let them go. This way they learn new skills and become more independent.

Don’t push your kid into things they aren’t ready for. This can be anything from potty training or sitting still in school for longer periods of time. Start them off slowly, introducing them to new concepts without expectations. They will get a hang of new tings in their own time. Trying to push them before they are ready only causes frustration in yourself and reluctance in your child.

These are all acts of service. We are actively making decisions to either act or stay our hands. While showing respect to our children, we are honoring them and loving them. By loving our children to the best of our ability, we are honoring God. ‘In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he himself said “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’ Acts 20:35.