We as a society are to blame for all the violent behavior that is going on in the world around us. If you are thinking, I am not to blame then let me ask you these questions:
- Did you ever tell your children no and mean it? The answer had better be yes.
- Did you cave in every time your children through a temper tantrum? The answer had better be no.
- Did you really teach your children right from wrong? The answer had better be yes.
- Did you teach them they are the most important thing in the world? The answer had better be no. They are important to use as parents, but they are nor anyone is the important thing in the world.
- Did you correct your children when they did things that were wrong? The answer had better be yes. Children need to learn boundaries and by not correcting this at an early age you may have created a situation where they do not understand or recognize these boundaries.
- Did you teach them to be humble? The answer had better be yes.
- Did you get your children out of trouble every time? The answer had better be no. Children need to learn to take responsibility for their actions. As a parent, when my children were young up until about age 10 I fought their battles in some instances, but let them handle others. When they were 10 until about 15 or so, I gave them the choice of my help or take care of it yourself. From about age 15 on, I told them to take care of it and only use me as a last resort. This helped them develop conflict resolution skills and to realize that everything is not going to go your way.
- Did you teach them that they are to never give in that this is a sign of weakness? The answer had better be know.
- Did you teach them to take responsibility for their actions? The answer had better be yes.
- Did you teach them that when they have done something wrong to not only acknowledge it, but to correct the situation? The answer had better be yes.
- Did you teach them to help others? The answer had better be yes
- Did you teach them that they should look out for number one and that they are number one? The answer had better be no.
I hope you are seeing a pattern here and the list could go on and on. No I am not a psychologist, but I would like to have a psychologist tell me that the philosophy I displayed above is wrong. I will not say that everyone of these has been said by God in the Bible the way I have stated it above, but it is pretty dang close.
Christ had two commandments:
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
- And the second is like it, love your neighbor (everyone) as love yourself.
I understand the frustrations of others by what they see going on in the world, but no where did Christ go out and say slaughter those that you are disgusted with.
So the next time you see something that you think would displease God, instead of taking a violent action as is so common in today’s society, try expressing love. This does not mean you accept their behavior, but you are loving them as not only Christ demonstrated, but also as Christ has commanded. Christ did not accept the sins of others as being ok, but simply told them to go and sin no more. Are we any better?