A Checklist for Love

Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at 12:25 PM

Most of us really believe that we love others as we should. However, when we take a close look at the true definition of love, we may find ourselves falling short of where we should be in loving our children and our fellow man. Based on the 13th chapter of I Corinthians in the Bible, we can ask ourselves the following questions to see where we really stand when it comes to loving as we should.

* Am I willing to wait when my children don't seem to "get it" right away, or do I get impatient and start yelling at them? (Love is patient.)

* Do I speak to my children with respect for their feelings, or do I make unreasonable demands on them? (Love is kind.)

* Do I feel badly when the children of someone else seem to do better than my children and start putting undue pressure on my children to perform better? (Love does not envy.)

* Do I brag to others when my children do better than theirs? (Love does not boast.)

* Do I use good manners with my children by saying "please", "thank you", "excuse me", and "I'm sorry"? (Love is not rude.)

* Do I get angry easily with my children, or do I understand that children are of equal value in God's sight as adults? (Love does not get angry easily.)

* Do we forgive our children when they make mistakes or do we keep an ongoing record in our minds of what they have done wrong? (Love keeps no record of wrongs.)

* Do I always think I am right and demand that my children not have an opinion of their own, or do I listen to their thoughts before making up my own mind? (Love is not self-seeking.)

* Do I feel good when someone else "gets what is coming to them", or do I feel sad that wrong was done in the first place? (Love does not delight in wrongdoing.)

* Am I happy when my children make the right decisions and take time to praise them for the good things they have done? (Love rejoices in the truth.)

* Do I protect my children from things that would harm them physically, mentally, spiritually, or socially? (Love protects.)

These are lofty standards to strive to attain. I suspect that no one adheres to them all the time, but we profit by knowing what is expected of us when we are commanded to love God and others. As we train our children, we need to try to set a good example. Just as we fail from time to time, so will they. We need to work as a team in continually striving to love as we should.

Train Up a Child

By Pat Lamb

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"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 Pat will have comments and suggestions about raising children based on her training and many years of teaching. Pat first began teaching Sunday School while in 7th grade at Verona, Missouri, where she was born and raised. After high school graduation there, she attended Missouri University and graduated with honors with a degree in Vocational Home Economics. She later completed training and received certification for elementary teaching in New Mexico. She has taught Home Economics (including child care), kindergarten, second grade, and substitute taught at several schools at all grade levels. She was awarded the Missouri Distinguished Adult Basic Education Service Award for distinguished leadership and dedication in all aspects of Adult Basic Education in the community, region, and state. This award was given to one GED teacher in the state. She was also invited to be included in "Who's Who of American Educators" in 2007. She was listed in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who Among American Business Women. Pat has recently written a book titled, "Let the Children Come" which will be released in the spring. In addition to classroom teaching, Pat has taught in churches and Sunday Schools through the years. She served as Acting Children's Director at First Baptist Church in Albuquerque, NM. She also directed an Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity preschool on the Navajo reservation. She currently teaches GED at Gibson Vocational Technical School in Reeds Spring and taught GED classes for 15 years at Blue Eye and Shell Knob. Pat and her husband, Keith, who presently serves on the Reeds Spring School Board, have four grown children and three grandchildren. They are approaching their 50th wedding anniversary. "Our children and grandchildren have taught us a great deal and are still teaching us," Pat says. "I look forward to sharing some of this information with readers. I don't claim to have all the answers, but perhaps my comments can be of some help. It is not easy to raise children in today's world where they are constantly being bombarded with temptations and varying ideas of what is right and wrong."

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