Recently, my 2 1/2-year-old daughter was having some rough, crabby days. Those usually consist of her scolding me for trying to tell her something or even answer a question of hers when she would prefer someone else to answer. I make it a point not to stand much for this behavior and constantly inform her that if she’s going to be crabby, she can spend some time alone in her room until she has a better attitude.
After having reminded her once again that she should not talk to me that way and be crabby for seemingly no reason, she started whining again, only to be reminded by my friend of what I had just said. I have a lot to learn from her response, which was priceless:
“Okay. I not be crabby. I be happy.”
The real lesson was in the fact that she didn’t only say it, but she then lived it out. She stopped whining and began playing happily by herself not causing any more commotion. While I understand that emotions are important and have their place, I ought to remember that it is all too easy to sin in the midst of negative emotions. Instead, “I be happy.”
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
Good lesson for all of us! Your girl is wise beyond her years :)
So true. The Lord commands us to rejoice, and He never asks us to do something without empowering us to do it.