Are You Growing Up To Be A Scoundrel Someday?
October 3, 2021 by Michelle Lim
Filed under Daily Devotions, Family
By Michelle Lim –
A few weeks ago my family cruised through town in our mini van on the way to church. Okay, so you can’t really cruise in a mini van, but we can always remember our imaginary jaguar.
All of us were packed in and relieved that the Sunday morning dress-up drama hadn’t eaten us whole. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I mean. If not, well, blissful ignorance can be a good thing.
The typical morning chatter filled the van until my seven-year-old told my four year old, “I think you just might grow up to be a scoundrel someday.”
My seven-year-old beamed while trying out last week’s school vocabulary lesson that included the word scoundrel. He had noticed my younger son’s grumpy disposition that sent him headlong into mischief that morning.
I concentrated on the horizon and covered my smile with my hand. Kids say the funniest things. But then I thought about a great truth wrapped up in seven-year-old terms.
Our day to day choices build the framework for who we become. Each choice matters. Each behavior has a consequence, whether good or bad. Each action makes up a brush stroke on the tapestry of our lives.
My seven-year-old understood that his younger brother’s behavior could form a pattern that, should he choose to continue to follow it, would make him grow up to be a scoundrel someday.
Thankfully as parents we have many years to help our children grow up to be God-serving adults. But we can’t take these small moments for granted. Consistency and loving discipline are a must.
What about our Christian walk? Bad habits and behaviors are not unique to children. We must choose to live a Godly life. If not, may we hear the truth in the words of a seven-year-old.
Are you growing up to be a scoundrel someday?
QUOTE: A child who does not think about what happens around him and is content with living without wondering whether he lives honestly is like a man who lives from a scoundrel’s work and is on the road to being a scoundrel. ~Jose Marti
“Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy” (Romans 13:13 NLT)
Michelle Lim is a pastor's daughter and mom of four with a heart for teaching. She is a Romantic Suspense writer with three complete manuscripts that have earned contest recognition, as well as the nonfiction author of "Idea Sparking: Brainstorming Conflict In Your Novel" which releases in September. Michelle is the Brainstorm/Huddle Coach at My Book Therapy and serves as Vice President of MN N.I.C.E., a local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers.