Shepherding their hearts

Some days I get frustrated with my kids. No big surprise to most of my family and friends. It is very challenging to be with five little ones every day, and for the majority of their waking hours having no immediate back-up. I am called by God to teach them about God and His commands in all I do and say. This is one reason we chose to homeschool our children, so I can continue to maximize the time they receive instruction in inclining their hearts toward God. I am admitting I do not do this well. I can tell them when they have failed to follow a rule and dole out the prescribed consequence, though I often sin myself in delivery and have confessed and asked forgiveness in this many times. What I am not so good at is addressing their underlying heart issues regarding their outward behavior. My husband is great at this, and I have relied on him often to have these conversations often, but I am with the kids more and I should be the one to teach them about their sin in their hearts as I am here all day at home with them.

I had a particularly difficult day of this recently and was pretty upset with myself that night about my failures. So I prayed, repented, asked for help, and turned to my husband, who is better at this than I am. He directed me to Ephesians 4:31-32: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." This provided me with a great pair of lists of things to put off and put on in our hearts. So we talked of how I can use these lists practically in speaking with our children while correcting their behavior--to address their hearts as well as their behavior. So today I made the graphic below to post in each room we mete out correction, to have the words before me so I can refer to God's word directly as I try to shepherd their hearts toward Christ.

  These words are not there just for me to direct them, but they speak to my own sinful, selfish heart as well.  I should not be bitter or angry at them, but tenderhearted and forgiving.  The way in which I should correct them should be with kindness and the gospel--I am a sinner, and so are they.  They need Christ and the Holy Spirit in order to obey and be forgiving, just like I do.