Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. My mom was a strong believer in clear honest talk. No matter the context. She disliked sarcasm as it hid frustration and double talk. And I do believe I owe it to my parents that the way I learned to interact with others had no hint of flirtation or manipulation.
I also translated my trust in their words to trusting God’s word. Which ultimately saved me a whole lot of trouble and pain. Before we can decide for ourselves, we ought to trust someone else to take our first steps, to taste the first food, to go bed at a reasonable hour, to study, to come home early, to listen to my gut when danger approaches.
the Bible is wealth of knowledge and guidelines. The proverbs are brilliant and applicable no matter the era or the generation.
Now my kids question sometimes my call. And I give them credit for the critical thinking but there are times when they ought to learn to also trust me in those “no questions asked” circumstances when kids unknowingly walk into danger and you call out to the to stop. They need to have that sense of trust into my voice to stop and then we can discuss the circumstances.
I hope we move beyond the specifics and are able to transmit to our kids a mode of operation, of serving the truth, of seeking knowledge into the main resource, and not debate basic things till the cows come home, just to exhaust the adults around them.
I appreciate a good debate but I have no patience to discuss the same issue over and over again, as if the information didn’t go through the first time, or it didn’t stick.
It must be exhausting for a kid to also question all the time the motives or the wisdom of the adults. I guess that is the root cause that would need to be addressed. Do you trust me? Do you trust I have the best intentions for you. Do you trust I know what I’m doing.
I know that even this is temporary. One can have this approach in the early childhood. When kids are teens, even if they started well, they may question (rightly so) your knowledge and wisdom and ability to know what is best for them.
Alas, in my 40+ of life experience, I have be spared a lot of heartache when I trusted God’s word. I took it at face value. I drew close to it. I read the Bible and I pursued an understanding of it. I could debate God and question him and ask question and then listen. And He would be faithful to answer. Occasionally I have also gone stubbornly into my own ways and I did reap the fruit of my stubbornness.