Over the last week, I followed a story that unfolded on twitter through a woman I follow. I know that I am not informed on all the details as I did not witness the incident but somehow that is not the point. I hope you will continue reading & see what I mean….
The story unfolds at the pool of a swim team of pre-teen girls. One girl is flat out mean & obnoxious. Mom that I follow speaks out. Now she readily will admit she spoke out at the wrong time & should have kept quiet. But the mean girl’s actions just got the best of her. I am not looking to make excuses for her only to set the scene for what soon takes place.
At the next team meet, the mean girl’s mom chews her out – in front of everyone. And the mean girl brought gifts for every girl EXCEPT the daughter of the mom who spoke out.
Seriously?
This has so made me think for days now.
May we, as moms, take full responsibility for the qualities that we instill in our daughters.
May we, as moms, be fully aware that our daughters will observe & learn & become the very persons that we are today.
~~~May we, as moms, not perpetuate the generational sin of MEANNESS.~~~
There I said it.
Girls do not become mean unless they have observed those behaviors. It is bad enough that they will experience meanness as they go to school, participate in sports & other activities. They hear it in telephone conversations. They see it on TV. They learn the tone of voice, the sarcasm, the mean spiritedness that they witness day in & day out. May we not let them experience it being acted out in their homes.
May we be intentional as moms. We need moms to step up to the plate & allow God to transform their own lives. We need moms that are godly. Gentle. Kind. Moms that speak graciously. Put others first. Moms that love their children. Speak truth into their lives. Discipline out of love. Correct with gentleness. Apologize with humility. Moms that laugh more. Are angry less.
So how about it? Can we be those moms that break the generational sin of meanness? Let’s try this instead:
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.] Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another.
(Galatians 5: 22-26 AMP)
Today I am linked with: Teach Me Tuesday and Unite and Titus 2sday and True Story Blog Hop and Titus 2 Tuesday .
Thanks for posting! So true…as parents we are far more accountable to our childrens behaviors than we know or even want to realize. – Jen from UNITE
You just reminded me of the children’s chorus, “Oh be careful little eyes what you see.” “Oh be careful little ears what you hear.” Our children are always listening & watching & learning. Thank you for stopping by today!
Amen Sister! May we love in truth and show our daughters how to be their best in humility and grace.
Absolutely! So glad you visited.
I learned early not to interfere in the fights of the children – – at least not with the mothers. Usually the kids forget very soon, and are back playing while the parents are angry with each other- so it is not worth it. In this case the offensive girl was a teen ager and a spoiled brat it seems. Yes, she was mean and taught by her mother to retaliate and pay back which is cruel. I hope this was not a church sponsored event, and that the girl who was hurt did not think of something mean to do back.
Thank you so very much for sharing at “Tell Me a Story.”