The urgent against the important
We live in such a busy world and with so many things in our heads that we often tend to worry about the urgent and allow it to replace what is important. We see him at home when the guests are about to arrive and the children have not picked up their dirty shoes and socks from the middle of the room and we raise our voices: “It’s always the same with you, it seems that you do it on purpose, I’ve told you a million times that you do not leave your shoes and dirty socks in the middle of the room, but I know that you can never be counted on when you are needed … ”
The urgent thing is that our guests are about to arrive and we do not want them to see our dirty house or three-legged socks and shoes in the middle of the room; the important thing is to teach our children the importance of their behavior and good habits in this life to be men of good manners, but even more, to teach them in love and with the assurance that they have their parents.
In this example we have crossed several lines because of our urgency of the urgent and we have caused great problems difficult to repair. On the one hand our son thinks that what we do is just to be good with others, because the shoes and socks were there all day and nobody said anything until the visits were coming. Wanting them to scream in five minutes will not work. On the other hand we emphasize to our son that you can never count on him and leave a mark in his heart quite deep. What we have just said to our son is: “the most important thing for me is what people think of me, even more important than how you feel”.
I think it’s better to pause our urgencies and ponder what’s important. Yes, we must correct the behavior of that child, but if there were no visitors coming, if we were not in a hurry and we could take the time to find the best way to teach him, what would have been our reaction?
The Bible says that everything we do or say we do for the glory of God. Stop your haste and your multiple occupations and ask yourself: what I am about to do or say, does it give glory to God in any way? I am sure that if this is our practice, we will see great changes in our lives, and around us.
God bless you!