rejection or responsibility...

nothing brings out the best in people – kids or anybody else – faster than having somebody believe in them and trust them with responsibility.

luke 16.10 & 12 (ncv), whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot. if you cannot be trusted with things that belong to somebody else, who will give you things of your own?

one of the most important life skills, parents, we can teach our children is teaching them to be responsible. we are in a society filled with irresponsible adults. why? because they never learned responsibility as children. so we must gradually turn the responsibility over to our children as they grow, not hold on too tightly and not over protect them.

how do you learn to be responsible? one way. you learn to be responsible by somebody trusting you with responsibility even when somebody thinks you don’t deserve it. in the long run you’re far better off trusting your kids too much than too little because over protection really is a form of rejection.

when you overprotect your children, you’re in essence saying, “you’re not competent. i don’t trust you. you can’t be relied on. therefore i’m going to have to keep things real close.”

yes, they will make mistakes when you trust them. so did you. you’re not perfect and your heavenly FATHER accepts you. you are to accept your children even when they make mistakes.

in the long run you do far more good for the emotional, mental and SPIRITual health of your children to over trust them rather than under trust them. obviously, with little kids they can’t handle a lot but as they grow you must be willing to give the responsibility away. this is a basic life skill we all have to learn. people respond to responsibility. they thrive under it. they grow. they develop. they blossom. people respond to responsibility.

on the other hand if you treat people like babies…. say, you’re a manager and you treat people like babies you’re going to have to diaper them the rest of your life.

bosses, “don’t make all the mistakes yourself. let your people make some of them.” delegate, release, empower people. because when you trust people with responsibility they blossom.

just a thought from the front porch…