LEARNING DAILY

 

Genesis 6:5, Then the Lord saw the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

 

Are you still with me after the last page of the blog? Guess what? If the kingdom of self is not put down in children, it continues to grow stronger. But what are the parents to do?  

 

We have all seen children create a scene in a grocery store or in another retail establishment in order to get what they want. Instead of dealing with the child’s tantrum and being viewed as an abusive or terrible parent, the parent gets what he/she has thrown the tantrum over. The successful effort achieved by crying, shouting, or the tantrum of choice solidifies, sharpens, and perfects the kingdom of self. For the parent doing nothing can be a problem. On the other hand, society has taken a dim view of correcting the child for any reason.

 

If the child is not corrected, there will be more difficulty bringing the self under control in the future. Saying no, discipling bad behavior is necessary for the development of the child and for their well-being. The Bible gives instruction and guidance to parents. Proverbs 13:24 states, “he who spares the rod hates his son. But he who loves his son disciplines him properly.” Proverbs 22:6, speaks of the value of discipline, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  Proper discipline is both necessary and good in the development of a child in order to break up the kingdom of self. Correcting the child when correction is needed is to help the child become less self-centered and more attentive to the wants and needs of others. The discipline must be appropriate and, may I add, done promptly in order to be effective. To teach the child what is good and bad behavior is important and necessary to the kingdom of self to diminish in the life of the child.

 

Here is why this is important to correct early. The kingdom of self will grow stronger as the child enters into adolescence, the teen years and in the adult years. The stronger the self gets the more difficult to put down. It does not take very long for the child to begin to demand independence; the child who brings the strong self-centeredness in the next years is going to be very concerned with keeping self in control and satisfied. The result becomes an ever-increasing resentment when self is not satisfied and rebellion or “acting out” may occur when discipline is attempted. The “acting out” may take a lot of different directions. Those entering these years with a well-developed kingdom of self will face the temptations of the world by giving into everything that satisfies self. Feeding the self is easy because the world offers so many opportunities do so and without the discipline to say no to self the desire to do what makes the ‘self’ feel good becomes a dominate desire. Television, Hollywood, the internet, a poor moral environment makes fulfilling the desires of self quite easy. Commercials are very successful creating a formula for what the perfect body is, the importance of creating wealth, and the products we use. Add in social media and the kingdom of self becomes firmly fixed as the controlling force of one’s life. Far too many individuals have been allowed to saturate their daily routine with the things that feed the kingdom of self.

 

Teens who have not learned to control the kingdom of ‘self’ become adults who are unable to do so as well. Without being able to control the kingdom of ‘self’, these adults continue to find ways to indulge the self. Their thoughts, desires, and lives are motivated by being able to gratify themselves with all the pleasures and things the world has to offer. Those who have not been able to control the kingdom of ‘self’ do not have any absolutes, no boundaries, no rules to follow except what feeds the kingdom of self. Too often this is at the expense of others.

 

You know what is happening around the country. Crime is increasing, violent crime is increasing at astonishing rates. Murder in the city I live in is up by 80% (I think that is the figure I heard yesterday.). The drugs coming in through our borders – well, the estimate for how many the fentanyl laced drugs will kill is astounding. Listen to what is being said and you might see that everything is “me” “me” “me”! The voices are certainly shouting out the kingdom of self”!