being good

Yesterday I was having one of "those" moments with Seth.  It started by him disobeying, which ultimately led to a stream of non stop bad decisions and more disobeying.  I have come to learn that Seth is a very sensitive child and yelling or being firm with him often only makes things worse.  But even in that moment, after me trying to correct his behavior, after discipline, Seth was still screaming uncontrollably and would not give up.  I pulled him in, his face to my face, and tried to explain why I am being firm with him and correcting him.  I told him, "Seth I'm doing this to help you stay on the right path!  I want you to be a good boy and make good decisions!"  And Seth, in the midst of tears, says, "But it's too hard to be good!"

I was stunned.

He said what we all learn at his age and deep down carry at the deepest part of our being: It is too hard to be good on our own.  Even if you want to believe that your goodness will bring you to heaven and right-standing with God, you know that you will never, ever, ever be good enough.  

That moment became a gospel teaching lesson between me and Seth.  "Seth, you're right!" I said, "Being good is too hard!  That's why Jesus is here, Seth.  Jesus helps us be good, and Jesus came to be good for us!  The next time you want to make a bad decision, pray and ask Jesus to help you make a good one.  And He will!"  He's a little too young to understand that Jesus, the Perfect One, made it so that even amidst our failures He will make us right before God, but these little baby steps are the foundation for that in his heart and mind.

It was a precious moment.