More Than The Scoreಮಾದರಿ

The old saying “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” can be painfully accurate. The tough part for us, as parents, is the bad comes with the good. One of my greatest failures was how my sons saw me disrespect their mother with my harsh words or sharp tone. I’ve worked on this, and it’s taken years to undo terrible behavior toward my sweet bride. Yet, early on, I broke many promises of trying to get better in how I spoke to Christina. I can still struggle with this. 

My sons saw this as they grew up. We’ve had some blunt conversations about speaking with the right tone and language, especially around their mom. Christina would ask me to intervene when the boys disrespected her with their words. I admit that I often felt I lacked the authority to correct them since I struggled so badly.

Enough was enough. I reached a point where I couldn’t deny any longer that things needed to change. But I couldn’t change myself. Thankfully, through some strong accountability and a lot of prayer and forgiveness, I behave much better today.

First came God’s intervention. There’s nothing sweeter than a redeemed life. Redemption is the act of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. It carries with it the idea of once being unworthy, but then becoming priceless by the grace of God. I’m a product of the redemption of a Heavenly Father. My sons are the product of a redeemed father. I am thankful for God’s redemption. Without it, I hate to think of where I would be.

Clearly, a redeemed life doesn’t mean we suddenly become perfect! It means we now have a way to be saved from sin directly from God. And He offers it as a free gift! I’m challenged each day to live the way God wants me to live. My goal is to walk more closely with Him and to live a life that honors Him.

Next, I had trusted people open my eyes to some painful truths. They were honest with me. They held me accountable to promises I made and to be the godly man I wanted to be. Who are your truth-tellers? Do you have people in your life who have permission to ask the tough questions? Are you transparent in those relationships? If we want to grow, we can’t do it on our own. This level of accountability has been a huge blessing for me. I’m still a work in progress and my friends know that there is much work to be done, but with God’s help through them, I’m better than I used to be.