controversy alert...

i have been thinking a lot about the passage in judges 17 (as well as judges 21 and places in deuteronomy) that talk about the fact that "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" pretty interesting to think about.
now, i expect that people who do not know the power of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer might have nothing else to fall back on than "what is right in their own eyes".
i mean, who else are they supposed to look to for what is "right"? it would have to be whatever is right to them. what starts to bother me is when people who claim that they have accepted Christ, which of course means that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is IN US (eph. 1:20) decide to do what seems right in their own eyes.
one main group that i see this problem in is mothers...especially those of young children. i am extremely passionate about parenting. i just believe so strongly that we have everything we need to raise our kids...it's in the Bible.

a few years ago, i joined a mommy-type forum. it was christian, and i thought it would be helpful to get advice from other moms regarding parenting. i quickly got discouraged. i would see a mom post something like this.
"i can not get my 3-year-old to stop having temper tantrums when it is time for her to put her toys away". as i started reading all the "advice" that was given by MANY mothers, i found myself getting...a little irritated.
they went a little something like this...
*give her options. she needs to feel like she is in control
*never spank. i tried that, and it doesn't work
*put her in time out

i could go on and on, but i can feel all those emotions rising up in me, so i will stop :)
we, as the parents are the authority.
the child should not feel like they are in control because they are not supposed to be.
spanking, when done properly does work,
and putting a child in time out is totally contrary to the verse that says "a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame".

all i am trying to say here is this:
i want moms to know that they do not have to do whatever is right in their own eyes.
whatever the other moms are doing.
whatever dr. phil says.
whatever, whatever, whatever!!

some times i think the best thing for us would be to stop reading books altogether and just go to THE Book!
when did we start thinking that the Bible is not "creative" enough, and we have to come up with our own practical, realistic discipline?

if nothing else, i hope that this post will get you thinking.
thinking about what you use for correction and instruction with your kids.
ask yourself where you got the idea to use the methods you do.
make sure that they are not just popular opinion, what your mom did, what you read somewhere.
but that they are from God Himself. who is the creator and designer of you and your child!
we have to make sure that we are intentional with what we are doing and that there is a deceitful, lying, coniving enemy out there who is trying to subtly trick us into thinking that we are wiser than God.
isn't that how it all began?
his devices have not changed. he wants us to think that we know our kids better than anyone else, and that our kids are somehow different from all the other ones, which is why God's way of discipline just doesn't work!
don't believe it for one second.
don't fall into his trap.
we have all we need in Jesus Christ and HE is the only one we should be going to for advice!

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." 2 Cor. 3:5