Responsibility

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

This is what Princess's room used to look like. Lotsa stuff.

This is what her room looks like now.

My genetics are so apparent in my daughter. I have been messy most of my life. I am not very messy anymore. Princess is learning that responsibility comes with a cost. Taking the parable in Matthew 25 as our boundary marker, the King and I are trying to teach the Princess how to manage her blessings and responsibilities. It is my humble little opinion that many American kids are not responsible people because they are given sooo much and so little responsibility is demanded of them.

One night, in a sassy attitude, Princess was frustrated that I was asking her to tidy up around the house. I only asked her to gather her things from the different rooms and put them away. Her response, "Well, if you want to take everything that I have, go ahead." I had taken nothing away. Yet. Praying a silent prayer for wisdom, the following transpired.

Queen: "I don't want to take what you have. I want you to be responsible with what you have. Do you want me to take away everything you have?"

Princess: "Well, if you want to then just take everything I have."

Praying again, I asked her, "Are you sure?"

Princess: some sort of sassy comment.

Oooookay. So, I spent the next hour cleaning everything out of her room. When she went to bed, she had a bed, two lamps and a chest of drawers in her room. There were not even pieces of lint on the floor. It was all gone. Put into storage.

We talked alot about the parable in Matthew 25 and many Proverbs that address laziness, responsibility and hard work. We listened to her, prayed with her and encouraged her.

As it stands, each day that she is responsible, she gets to "buy" something back. She has "purchased" almost all of the things she wants back. The rest will stay in storage or be given away. She is learning so many lessons.

1. God is merciful, loving and just. Consequences come from all of our decisions.
2. We don't expect perfection, just progress.
3. We love her no matter how lazy or how resposible she is.
4. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it produces a harvest of righteousness for those who are trained by it. (Hebrews 12)
5. Training is what persistent achievers do. They work at something over and over until they are really good at it. Sometimes you work so hard that you throw up, like marathon training. Still, the reward of the training makes it all worthwhile.

So many good lessons. And the surprising thing? She likes her clean room and does not want to clutter it up again. She's finding that less is more.

I think I could be learning a lot, too. I wonder how productive it would be to dump all my stuff out on the front lawn and only bring back inside what I want to clean and be responsible for? Hmmm.... I feel some spring cleaning coming on.

Matthew 25:14-28

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. 16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ 21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’