Committing to the Work: Being Dedicated and Committed to the AssignmentSample

As a mother, I find I have to pay special attention to teaching my children that if I can trust them with little, then I can entrust them with a lot. Children sometimes want the benefits of building trust without the work, but they have to be taught that one is required for the other. For example, my daughter has a thing with tablets. She is kind of like her mom in that she needs to find balance in that, and since I see the similarities, I make sure to help her out in this area. When it comes to the tablet, she has rules. We give her a time limit and only allow her to play educational games.

Here is what tends to happen: She does well at following the rules initially, but then she somehow ends up on YouTube or playing a noneducational game. And we then have to take the tablet from her. She is never happy when this happens, but we tell her that we want to know we can trust her to follow the rules we have, and then we can give her more time and play options. When we set these boundaries around her tablet time and play, we are creating a standard, and when this happens, she is free to explore within those parameters. Each time she does well with it, we extend to her more opportunities in that area or another. As she proves that she can be trusted, we entrust her with more.

This is how it works with our God-given assignments. God needs to know that He can trust us with the completion of His assignment without our giving up before we reach the finish. He entrusts more to those He can trust, and He establishes a standard for what He has entrusted to us.

What are some boundaries you may need to establish to succeed?