Daily Devotional – 6/1/12 “What in the hell is going on?”

I know this is a Christian devotional and I probably should have said world instead of hell but with the world the way it is today, I’ve got to keep it real with you. The kids these days have no sense of urgency, no regards to what should be a priority and even a don’t care attitude when the world will chew them up and spit them out the first chance it gets. While sitting at my parents-in-laws on yesterday, we were talking to the kids about their attitudes and the fact that they expect things to be handed to them and it doesn’t seem to be registering. I’ve been trying to teach my daughter that the world doesn’t revolve around her and if she doesn’t realize it now, she will be in for a rude awakening once disappoints slaps her a few times across the face in the world. See, I’ve come to realize that the generation of children now couldn’t survive without parents. When I was 13, my sisters and I were responsible for our household because my momma had to work. She didn’t work because it was the cool thing to do but she worked because if she didn’t, we went without. We were able to cook, clean, wash clothes, take care of babies and anything else that needed to be done. We didn’t know the meaning of half cleaning a bathroom or not making a bed. We didn’t sleep if there was a dish in the sink and when we were of age, we worked during the summer because it was the responsible thing to do. Now, oh Lord, kids can’t even get a decent grade in school when school is all they have to do. They act like we are getting on their nerves when we tell them to clean the room they aren’t even paying for. We give them cell phones, name brand shoes/clothes, video games, nails, hair fixes and money to hang out when we hardly ever get the chance too. Am I blaming the parents, partially, because we share part of the blame? We didn’t have 19 pairs of shoes and we turned out find. We even shared clothes with each other and we survived. Now, they need a shoe to match the color of the strips in their shirt or a new pair of jeans because somebody else got them. We don’t even discipline them anymore because we have a Now & Later attitude whereas a child does something now and we say we’ll get them later. What in the hell is going on? The bible says in Proverbs 23:13, “Don’t fail to discipline your children. They won’t die if you spank them.” You didn’t die with all the whooping you got, did you? And then you had to go and get the switch or belt for your own punishment. However, with the “new age” parents, we allow the child to set the rules of the games but when did the play change? I mean, if you were disrespectful with your mouth, you got hit in your mouth but, now we tell them, “Say it one more time and I’m going to …!” What? What are you actually going to do later that you should have done then?

Bay-bee, you’d better get it together. Kids, these days have it all wrong. They talk more than they listen when the bible says in Proverbs 23:12 “Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.” Even in my adult days now, I still listen to my parents and grandparents because they have the knowledge of all we are trying to do. Yea, I know that you may be a young parent but that doesn’t mean we stop parenting and parenting starts from when they are hold enough to learn right from wrong. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Instead of your daughter being on the phone while you cook dinner, teach her how to make the cornbread. While your son is chilling on a Saturday, he should be cutting the grass while you are edging in order to learn how to take care of his house someday. If we don’t teach them, how will they know?” Teach a young man to be responsible and respectful so that he’ll know how to treat young ladies. Teach a young lady how to be responsible and respectful so that she’ll know how to treat young men. Teach them the value of a dollar so that they won’t be 18 and sign away their life the first time a credit card application comes in the mail. Teach them how to love themselves, first, so that they won’t fall for the first person whispering in their ear. Teach them how to pray so that they can call on God when times get hard. Teach them how to worship so that the Holy Spirit can abide in them and speak for them when they can’t. Teach them how to be responsible drinkers when they get 21 so they won’t end up dead or in jail before they turn 22. Teach them how to work hard for the things they want instead of stealing and robbing folks. Teach them that it’s ok to love themselves but not become self-centered and full of themselves. If you have a trade, teach it to them because even if they act like there aren’t interested now, they will be when they least expect it. If you start early building their foundation, they’ll always have it to build on. Will they sometimes stray, yes but they’ll have a starting point to go back too. This is why the bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

We are living in a society where kids are maturing faster than they ever have so before the world turns them into another statistic, we have to ground them. No ma’am, no sir; there isn’t anything cute about a 3-4 year old cussing, rapping and popping their butt. If they can do all that, they need to be potty trained. Folks aren’t laughing with you when they see a child being disrespectful at a store, church or school but they are laughing at you for being crazy enough to allow it to happen. My grandma always says you get them where they cut up at. Proverbs 29:15 says, “To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.” So, instead of going to the school to act a fool with the teacher, act one with the child that’s cutting up and I can bet they won’t want that embarrassment again. See, while you are running up to the school to “show out,” you knew your child was hellish before you even sent them to school so stop acting like they do no wrong. You should be the main one sending thank you notes during teacher appreciation for them folks having to deal with the child you don’t even want to deal with. And if you got a problem with the teacher, discuss it alone and not in front of the child because the last thing they need to know is you can’t stand the teacher. Another thing, stop discussing grown folk business in front of children who have no business being in the business! Tare their tail up when they are disrespectful to the adult in the house who is not their biological mom or dad instead of saying that you will. You’re mad at your husband because he came home late, so what, the kids shouldn’t know it. You get mad at your wife because she didn’t give you any loving last night, the kids shouldn’t know it because you want to talk about it in the car. Grown folks business is grown folks business. Child, get cha life right! Now, don’t get me wrong, as the child gets older some things they need to experience in order to understand the goodness of God but they shouldn’t have a hand in everything that goes on. Let them see you sick so that they can understand when you say God is a doctor in a sick room. Let them know that you are temporarily out of funds, when they are asking for $200 tennis shoes and the light bill is due, so they’ll know that God can make a way when it looks like there is no way. Let them know that God can bring joy instead of you finding it in a bottle of alcohol. Let them see that God is the love you need instead of finding it between the legs of the many men/women you have coming in and out of your life. Ask yourself, if I died on today can my teenager/young adult survive in this world. If the answer is no, then it’s not too late to start because you have work to do. If the answer is yes, you still have work to do because learning happens every day. Yea, you may think you got it all under control and that your child will never do this but if a child is breathing, there isn’t anything they won’t try to get away with. Stop acting like your child doesn’t make mistakes because everybody does.

We’ve got to get back to teaching the right way instead of telling it to them. We’ve got to get back to paying attention instead of paying them to do the chores they are supposed to do. We’ve got to get back to praying for/with them instead of praying they make it to 18 to get out of your house. We got to get back to making them worthy of God’s blessings instead of making them go to church on Sunday where they text or sleep the entire time. We’ve got to being the parents that God has made us. The bible says in John 5:19, “Jesus gave them this answer, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” And women are supposed to adhere to what the bible says in Titus 2:3-4, “Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.” Don’t be quick to throw in the towel when your child makes mistakes because kids, young & old, will make mistakes because no one is perfect but God. Haven’t you realized by now that once you’re down and old, these same children you’re walking over will be responsible for you? Don’t be too quick to give up on them because they may just return the favor and then you’ll be sitting in a nursing home crying because no one will visit you. Start off with a strong foundation of Christ and his commandments and if they ever leave, they will have something to return to and to rebuild on. I know that times get hard and sometimes you feel like giving up, but someone cared for you when you needed it. You can’t be mad or sad when they are consumed by the streets if that’s the only choice you’ve given them. Stop giving up so easily on your child. Sometimes you have to take your hands off but that’s only when you have placed them in God’s hands.