Correction

I don't know about you but I have lived more than half of my life not fully accepting correction.  I didn't trust the person who was correcting me most of the time and didn't trust their motives.  I really would only change my behavior if I thought it was wrong or didn't line up with what I believed.  I was respectful of most teachers and other authorities but I didn't listen to their correction.  Those closest to me I didn't respect for various reasons, some valid and some not.  Therefore, I didn't respect their teachings over my life.  I wasn't teachable and into my late teens and early twenties I actually thought I was.  I was far from teachable, but I played a good part to make it look like I was.

Now, as a parent I'm seeing different degrees of this in my kids.  Both have a difficult time accepting correction but one child really struggles with this.  And because of their struggle, I struggle with trying to help them deal better with correction and have a teachable spirit.  

It's so funny to me who stubborn I was.  It's a stark contrast to how I am now.  I'm constantly looking to God and my elders for guidance, wisdom, correction and/or lessons.  But how do I inspire this in my children?  How do I lead, teach, inspire and correct them without provoking them to anger and thus discouraging them (Col 3:21, Eph 6:4)? 

My kids have huge hearts and are very caring and it can be so hard to steer such sensitive hearts.  Sometimes I really wish Jesus would have gotten married and had kids so we could have a few books of examples from that...

~Just my 2cents ;)