You know, throughout all my reading this week, I kept coming back to passages about the will. Overcoming or submitting your will is such a difficult thing to do. I've wrestled with even the concept of winning the will for lots of my life thinking that some things just can't be overcome completely. I've assumed it may always be a battle. But this week I read some things that stood in stark contrast to that. Then to top it off, what does Kyle talk about this morning? You guessed it! The will. Yikes! Can't I get away from this topic?!!! Then tonight we discussed the changed lives of three people in the passage. They all turned immediately. :{ God does pursue. :)
The will is choosing which direction to go. Or, as Kyle put it, like aiming at the mark. It's righting your aim. I'll admit there are things that I've struggled with for years. I am just now seeing that I am not a victim but that it is a choice. It's not that I can't choose because I am strong in some things. You won't see me stealing from the supermarket. That is not a temptation for me. But my weaknesses are difficult. They are the points that I want to pretend I'm helpless on and not address them. God is funny in how He works. With giving up something as little as nailbiting for my daughter, I have seen how weak my will can be. I keep catching myself in the middle of putting a finger to my mouth. But I quickly put it back down. It's just sobering to see how dependent I am on that. Now, that's something very insignificant in the big scheme of things but it's huge to me. (Believe me, I've got greater problems but this is a beginning.) "If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve." (Joshua 24:15)
H. Clay Trumbull says, "It is true that God holds out before man, as an inducement to him in his choosing, the inevitable results of his choice. If he chooses good, life comes with it. If he chooses evil, death is its accompaniment. The rewards and the punishments are declared in advance; but after all, and in spite of all, the choice is man's own." "As God, our wise and loving Father in heaven, deals with us His children, so we, as earthly fathers, should deal with our children. We should guard sacredly their privilege of personal choice; and while using every proper means to induce them to choose aright, we should never, never, never force their choice, even into the direction of our intelligent preference for them. The final responsibility of a choice and of its consequences rests with the child, and not with the parent." -- Hints on Child Training. (H. Clay Trumbull raised eight children of his own and is the great-grandfather of Elisabeth Elliot Gren)
At first I wrestled with this philosophy. Leave it in the child's hands to obey or not? Huh? Then as I read more I began to really understand his meaning. We set up specific enticements for our children to choose right or punishments when they choose wrong. But in my world when they begin to choose wrong I want to nag and remind them of the consequences or maybe even intimidate them with the Motherly evil eye to keep them from going down that path. All these things are WRONG! If I aim to build character I MUST let them choose right for themselves. Or else they will be sitting down but standing up on the inside. It can only be their choice when they OWN it. Leave it in their court. Keep myself calm. No power struggles. They choose right - praise and enjoyments. They choose wrong - discipline or loss of privledge. That simple. Seeing it in that light helps me see my choices in God's light. I begin to see the consequences and the enticements through my own life. What is my choice? What will I will?
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4 comments:
Very good insights. Since we talked about this I have not got it out of my mind. God is dealing with me about my choices as well and the gearing of my will. It is so easy to get complacent and let things go but not more beneficial. I find my biggest challenge with children is being consistent with the consequences as well as not trying to control with my flesh their flesh. When I do that I definitely see that "outward only obedience". Thanks for sharing and encouraging.
it is interesting to hear about this "outward only obedience." I feel like that is how I am acting when I go to work each day lately. My will says, "I don't desire to go to work at all!" But, my outward self is going in spite of it. I can feel my will and heart changing, though, the more I am practicing doing the right things and God is showing me the blessings that come of doing the right thing. I will be thinking a lot about this, too, I think. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I love this blog! I've read it three times now, trying to formulate my thoughts on this. I am a little on the fence here...if it's possible to be "a little on the fence", because you either are or you aren't...but I'm getting off track. Anyway, though I think we should never give up dying to self, there are going to be things we hold on to. If we were completely selfless, we would be perfect. Is it possible to overcome every struggle in your life? I didn't hear what Kyle said, so maybe I'm off base. What about the "thorn" Paul wrote about? He had something he wrestled with constantly. Are we setting ourselves up for a major guilt trip if we think we can choose right all the time?
I found Turnbill's philosophy very interesting. I really like what he said! It does make sense to me. So often I think my job is to discipline my kids, but it's my job to teach them and direct them. If I do that, trusting them with choices should be easier.
I enjoyed this post very much and posted more thoughts on your sister's blog.
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