In view of God's mercy

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's MERCY, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God

I am reading a book called "Effective Parenting in a Defective World" by Chip Ingram.  It is a very good book and I highly recommend it.  His main point is that we raise our kids to be happy and successful and to avoid the things that are bad for them.  Instead, we should be teaching them God's character and to love Jesus.  He talks about teaching obedience and he points out that eventually you want your child to obey, not just out of obligation, but out of love and respect.  Then I was reading Romans later that same day and I came across the verse above and the word mercy jumped off the page at me.  The word mercy doesn't seem like it is the best fit logically - unless you already know the nature of our relationship with God.  It could have said, "In view of God's commands..." or "In view of God's power..." or "In view of God's authority...".  But it doesn't.  It says, "In view of God's MERCY...".  So, to put it in my own words, Paul is saying, "God is not making us become living sacrifices.  He already has offered us more than we could hope for by giving us his mercy.  So, come on, give God everything because he loves you."  It is similar to the way I hope our children will obey one day - not because they are afraid of us or not because we tell them to, but because they love us and respect us.  I had a friend in high school who, in my eyes, had an ideal mother. My friend often treated her mother terribly.  She was often lying and disobeying her.  It sometimes would make me angry with her.  I would tell her all the time how lucky she was to have a mother who cared for her so much. She just saw her mother as getting in the way of what she wanted to do.  She never listened to her mother and it was a running joke with her that if she really wanted to do anything, she had to ask at least 4 times because the first three times she would always get a "no".  When she became an adult, she has had trouble with being under restrictions or authority. It has had some serious impact on her life, like job and marital problems.  I used to tell her that she didn't know how lucky she was to have the mother she did and that she should obey her more.  She would agree that she had a great mother, but then she would justify her disobedience with saying, "That is just how I am and my mother knows it!".  I never really thought that because she never learned to adhere to authority as a child, it has caused unfaithfulness in her relationship with God, but after reading this book, I think it does.  Of course, we all make our own decisions and we each have the Holy Spirit speaking into our hearts, despite our up-bringing.  It is our choice to listen.  But I know I have sometimes had the attitude, "This is just how I am and God knows it!"

I often get lazy and let my kids get away with stuff for a while, telling them to do something, but not assuring they do it.  But then I get mad when they don't listen when I do get serious and I raise my voice for them to listen.  I knew this wasn't the best parenting technique, but I never thought about how it could affect their relationship with God.  The author, Chip Ingram, says, "Do you understand that obedience is God's channel of blessing?....If we don't teach our children to obey, we're setting them up to miss out on God's blessings.  We're denying them the training they will one day need to hear God's still, small voice and act on it.  When God whispers, 'This relationship is bad for you' or 'Don't get in the car with those guys', they'll keep running...They won't really believe the voice is serious...If a child can't learn to obey a parent who is visible, he'll never learn to obey a God who isn't."

This little blurb about this book doesn't quite do the book justice, but it has definitely made me change my parenting this week.  I know nothing I do can guarantee that my kids will follow God's direction, but I definitely want to know that I have tried my hardest to teach them the best way I can.