As the #homestretchhomeschooling ladies and I bring our series on the Fruits of the Spirit to this new year with a discussion about Kindness, I’m thinking of the ways that watching the Holy Spirit sanctify my son has edified me.
The fruits of the Spirit are His, and a mother cannot place them on externally.
As the Spirit fashions both myself and my teenager into the image of Christ, I am learning so much about the genuine nature of the work He does compared to anything I could fabricate.
I’m also learning more and more that I can trust Him with my children. ♥️
A Few Things God Has Been Teaching Me About Kindness and My Son:
1️⃣ Niceness and Kindness Aren’t Equivalent
As someone who was indoctrinated into fundamentalism, I grew up believing that women should be “nice” and sweet above all else.
This “niceness” distorted true meekness and also my ability to recognize true kindness.
If I’m not intentional, I can miss my son’s genuine acts of kindness simply because he’s not as demonstratively “nice” as I imagine he “should” be.
2️⃣ Kindness Can’t Be Moralized or Manipulated
There’s nothing like a teenager to root out your tendency to moralize (and to call you on it). 😏
While I certainly maintain boundaries against unkindness, I’ve also had to learn that I can’t force or require specific acts of kindness and expect a genuinely kind person to be the result.
3️⃣ Kindness Isn’t Dependent Upon Personality or Mood
Listen, teenagers are moody and broody and we all know that. 😜 They are navigating the most physically and mentally challenging years of development and this impacts their ability to regulate their moods.
This is a fact that God is well aware of as the designer of these developing bodies and the Holy Spirit works within it.
He also speaks the language of introversion.
In both cases, kindness is often on display in a way that I’d miss if I wasn’t intentional not to.
Kindness in the homestretch isn’t always over-the-top and loudly “cheerful”, but it’s there.
For More:
@juiceboxhomeschool
@rootedinrest
@redefiningschool
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