"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
Matthew 23:12
While I was laying on the floor this morning, Naomi threw something at me, trying to be silly. It hit my face and actually hurt. I said, "Ow! That hurt!" To which she sweetly responded, "I'm sahwee, mommy." I followed with, "I forgive you, sweetie, but please don't throw things...I didn't like that." I assumed the conversation was over, but she looked at me concerned, and said, "Okay, mommy...I won't."
She also apologizes without hesitation if she accidentally bumps into someone, and has also started saying "sorry" even when SHE gets hurt herself! The other day, I was carrying her and upon stubbing my toe, I said, "OUCH!" As she heard this, she immediately responded with, "I'm sahwee, mommy." I thanked her for apologizing, but let her know that she didn't do anything so she didn't need to apologize.
Each of these instances with her have made me think about the significance of teaching our children how to say they are sorry and ask for forgiveness. I know this topic can be widely debated, so I am just going to share my ideas and theory on the matter, and you can take it or leave it! :)
How many of us have been around an adult who has a hard time apologizing to others? Or who has a hard time admitting that they are wrong? How many of us reading this right now even struggle with this ourselves? It's a little thing called pride. And most of us have it creeping around in our hearts in varying degrees. The opposite of pride is humility. And as I pray for humility in my own life, I am also praying for the same for my children. But since I am their mommy, I have a wonderful opportunity to not only pray for them, but to TEACH them and model for them what humility looks like.
And at their ages, I believe the best way to do that is to teach them how to apologize when they've hurt someone or done something wrong. We also teach them to apologize when they have disobeyed or talked back to us. And while I guide them along in these things, I'm also very intentional about modeling the behavior myself. If I accidentally bump into them or make a mistake of any kind, I am quick to apologize.
The most challenging for me is to apologize when I've lost my self-control or patience with them...usually in the form of yelling rudely to get them to behave better for me. If I've lost my temper with them, I get down at their level and tell them, "Mommy got very angry with you, but I should not have acted in my anger. I'm sorry for yelling at you, and I will work to be more peaceful and loving in the way I treat you." This is usually met with awkward silence (and usually a smile). Then I ask, "Will you forgive me?" And their precious response is always the same, "Yes, mommy, I forgive you."
And there you have it. I'm not perfect. I am GOING TO make mistakes. I can't dwell on my imperfections and let them get me down, but instead, seek forgiveness and move on. Oh...and pray for the Lord to do a work in my own heart. And in this whole process of growing in humility myself, I will be able to teach and encourage my beautiful children to do the same.
She also apologizes without hesitation if she accidentally bumps into someone, and has also started saying "sorry" even when SHE gets hurt herself! The other day, I was carrying her and upon stubbing my toe, I said, "OUCH!" As she heard this, she immediately responded with, "I'm sahwee, mommy." I thanked her for apologizing, but let her know that she didn't do anything so she didn't need to apologize.
Each of these instances with her have made me think about the significance of teaching our children how to say they are sorry and ask for forgiveness. I know this topic can be widely debated, so I am just going to share my ideas and theory on the matter, and you can take it or leave it! :)
How many of us have been around an adult who has a hard time apologizing to others? Or who has a hard time admitting that they are wrong? How many of us reading this right now even struggle with this ourselves? It's a little thing called pride. And most of us have it creeping around in our hearts in varying degrees. The opposite of pride is humility. And as I pray for humility in my own life, I am also praying for the same for my children. But since I am their mommy, I have a wonderful opportunity to not only pray for them, but to TEACH them and model for them what humility looks like.
And at their ages, I believe the best way to do that is to teach them how to apologize when they've hurt someone or done something wrong. We also teach them to apologize when they have disobeyed or talked back to us. And while I guide them along in these things, I'm also very intentional about modeling the behavior myself. If I accidentally bump into them or make a mistake of any kind, I am quick to apologize.
The most challenging for me is to apologize when I've lost my self-control or patience with them...usually in the form of yelling rudely to get them to behave better for me. If I've lost my temper with them, I get down at their level and tell them, "Mommy got very angry with you, but I should not have acted in my anger. I'm sorry for yelling at you, and I will work to be more peaceful and loving in the way I treat you." This is usually met with awkward silence (and usually a smile). Then I ask, "Will you forgive me?" And their precious response is always the same, "Yes, mommy, I forgive you."
And there you have it. I'm not perfect. I am GOING TO make mistakes. I can't dwell on my imperfections and let them get me down, but instead, seek forgiveness and move on. Oh...and pray for the Lord to do a work in my own heart. And in this whole process of growing in humility myself, I will be able to teach and encourage my beautiful children to do the same.
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