It’s been said that the Bible has a “ring of truth to it.” In other words, the personal experiences, lessons, teachings, and history contained within the 66 books of the Bible contains truths that are observable, testable and aligns with our reality. If we are careful students of Truth and test it with the world around us, then we can start to build healthy worldviews.
Every now and then, I want to put the spotlight on one thing that I notice that is true about our world and show what the Bible says about it. This is what I am going to do today with the concept of “good.”
I could write a thick book solely about the word and concept of “good.” This word and all its meanings and implications have been endlessly philosophized and debated about for millennia. Today, though, I just want to focus on the idea of “good” as in “good behavior.”
I believe that most of the life events that we experience are designed to teach us some element, some slice of truth. The one area that this is definitely true for me is in the realm of parenting. It is remarkable what I’ve learned about myself and the world that we reside in just by having had a child.
It’s a pretty startling thing to realize that you NEVER have to teach a child how to be disobedient or rebellious.
My son is a great kid, but like his parents and everybody else, he’s a sinner. It’s a pretty startling thing to realize that you NEVER have to teach a child how to be disobedient or rebellious. This was a truth that I had always been peripherally aware of, but it’s another thing entirely to see this truth come to life before your eyes, especially after you realize that teaching good behavior to a child is not an easy task. You have to teach, model, teach again, model again, remind, remind, remind, encourage, and enforce. Being good (exhibiting positive behavior like sharing nicely, listening to authority figures, following directions) is not something that a child learns right away; it is behavior that is foreign to them.
This is a truth that is easily seen and agreed upon. There are many, many books on parenting and behavioral modifications, not to mention all the parenting and mom and dad blogs out there, so sin is definitely a part of our world, starting from childhood. So, what does the Bible say about this? How does the Bible explain this truth?
It says that everybody is a sinner, including our children. It says that all bad behavior is caused by sin. See Psalm 51:5 and Isaiah 53:6. For those that say that children can’t sin, the Bible begs to differ. Sinning can be done by a child, especially one who knows the difference between right and wrong. James 4:17 says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” This is correct and fits with the way the world functions.
Fortunately, the Bible says that we’re not stuck in sin because we all have been redeemed through the saving grace of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. See John 1:14-17 for a great summary of the gospel.
As parents, it is easy to think that we are much older and wiser and perhaps better than our children, but we need to remind ourselves that we, too, are children. We need someone to teach us how to be good. In His grace and wisdom, God gave us just that in the form of Christ. Being the ultimate good Himself, Jesus is the one that teaches, models, teaches again, models again, reminds, reminds, reminds, encourages, and ultimately will enforce at the end of all things.
That is a truth we can keep in mind as we watch and mind our children and help them be good.
Photo credit: ImgKid
badBiblechildrendisobediencegoodgospelIsaiahJamesJohnPsalmrebellionsinsinnertruth
A Slice of Truth: Being Good
January 21, 2015
A Slice of Truth, Devotionals
Comments Off on A Slice of Truth: Being Good
Matt
It’s been said that the Bible has a “ring of truth to it.” In other words, the personal experiences, lessons, teachings, and history contained within the 66 books of the Bible contains truths that are observable, testable and aligns with our reality. If we are careful students of Truth and test it with the world around us, then we can start to build healthy worldviews.
Every now and then, I want to put the spotlight on one thing that I notice that is true about our world and show what the Bible says about it. This is what I am going to do today with the concept of “good.”
I could write a thick book solely about the word and concept of “good.” This word and all its meanings and implications have been endlessly philosophized and debated about for millennia. Today, though, I just want to focus on the idea of “good” as in “good behavior.”
I believe that most of the life events that we experience are designed to teach us some element, some slice of truth. The one area that this is definitely true for me is in the realm of parenting. It is remarkable what I’ve learned about myself and the world that we reside in just by having had a child.
My son is a great kid, but like his parents and everybody else, he’s a sinner. It’s a pretty startling thing to realize that you NEVER have to teach a child how to be disobedient or rebellious. This was a truth that I had always been peripherally aware of, but it’s another thing entirely to see this truth come to life before your eyes, especially after you realize that teaching good behavior to a child is not an easy task. You have to teach, model, teach again, model again, remind, remind, remind, encourage, and enforce. Being good (exhibiting positive behavior like sharing nicely, listening to authority figures, following directions) is not something that a child learns right away; it is behavior that is foreign to them.
This is a truth that is easily seen and agreed upon. There are many, many books on parenting and behavioral modifications, not to mention all the parenting and mom and dad blogs out there, so sin is definitely a part of our world, starting from childhood. So, what does the Bible say about this? How does the Bible explain this truth?
It says that everybody is a sinner, including our children. It says that all bad behavior is caused by sin. See Psalm 51:5 and Isaiah 53:6. For those that say that children can’t sin, the Bible begs to differ. Sinning can be done by a child, especially one who knows the difference between right and wrong. James 4:17 says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” This is correct and fits with the way the world functions.
Fortunately, the Bible says that we’re not stuck in sin because we all have been redeemed through the saving grace of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. See John 1:14-17 for a great summary of the gospel.
As parents, it is easy to think that we are much older and wiser and perhaps better than our children, but we need to remind ourselves that we, too, are children. We need someone to teach us how to be good. In His grace and wisdom, God gave us just that in the form of Christ. Being the ultimate good Himself, Jesus is the one that teaches, models, teaches again, models again, reminds, reminds, reminds, encourages, and ultimately will enforce at the end of all things.
That is a truth we can keep in mind as we watch and mind our children and help them be good.
Photo credit: ImgKid
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badBiblechildrendisobediencegoodgospelIsaiahJamesJohnPsalmrebellionsinsinnertruth