Nature vs. Nurture

I recently concluded a phone conversation with my mom. Her final remark to me was, "Well, you have not done a very good job with your children. They don't even know how to say, thank you." My thought...WOW... it all boils down to that!?! 

My "children" are 17 and 19 as I write this post. From what I remember of them as young children, they were very thoughtful with their words.  But now, they don't say thanks enough -- for her. They don't say thanks as much as I would - that's for sure. However, their dad doesn't verbally say thanks all that much either - come to think of it :)

So, how much of what we are is nature versus nurture? And, how much of NATURE is made new when we become a new creation in Christ. And, how much of the change is a process and not instantaneous?  In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” ‭NLT‬‬

Sometimes parenting (in the way you feel you should as a Christian parent) can be a huge pain -- with no reward in sight :) You can only do SO much. You can only show your values to your children through your consistent actions for SO long. AND, you can only hope they are watching, seeing the value of & adopting some of those values. Definitely at some point, they are going to do whatever they want to do. It might be a hard job to be a good, Godly parent. But, in my opinion, it's worth the work -- if for no other reason than to know that you did your best. 

As encouragement to all those parents out there who seem to be hitting their head against the wall with their children, here's some encouragement:

"Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10 NLT

My comments: Be faithful & do the work. Let God be responsible for the results. Give HIM the glory for those results.

Oh and... THANK YOU for reading this - ha ha!