AND "By what authority are you doing these things?"

Matthew 21:23-24 (New King James Version)

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:

Matthew 8:9b (New King James Version)
9b For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.These verses have helped me and a dear friend as we spoke about this issue in child rearing and giving our children a "way out"...Let me explain a little background...

I was so tired of telling my children over and over to STOP being "the mom or dad" to each other as if they are the ones in authority! I was coming to a moment where I felt like I could be exasperating them because how are they to encourage in love without sounding like one in authority!?? All day I'm hearing them in all sorts of ways command their siblings with the rules they know mom and dad require them to abide by..."Jeremiah get off the table..."..."Kawika that's enough cereal!"..."Stop doing (whatever)!"

Soooo...EVerytime I reply with; "you are not the mom, you need to encourage in love!" Well I finally realized this is exasperating them because when they see a sibling doing something they shouldn't, they need a way to encourage them without sounding like one in "authority"...

As the verses above share that the listeners of Jesus were not willing to listen because they did not know the autority He came in (because God hadn't allowed it)...Same with my kids, they do not heed eachother's word because they are in no authority over them nor are they saying it in a way that is to be respected or appreciated by eachother...

So the conclusion?? My children are not allowed to TELL eachother anything when it comes to reminding eachother of mom's rules...No, they are to ASK...ASK eachother what the person in authority wants them doing in this situation...FOR example...instead of "Jeremiah Get out of the bathroom, mom doesn't want you in here..." They are to ask "Jeremiah, does mom want you in this bathroom..." Automatically, the tone is recieved much better by one another and they are not coming to one another in their own authority, but in MOM or DAD's authority...More examples: "Kawika does mom want us cleaning the playroom?" "Alina does dad want your cup right there?"

I can not tell you what a difference this has made in their days...When they know something should be, they have a safe way to approach the circumstance at hand in a way that shows lov eto their sibling...

Hee hee...as I sit here typing I heard my little Alina encourage her little brother "Jeremiah, what did mommy say? Does mommy want you sitting on the couch?" And there goes Jeremiah running off as if he didn't hear her...Go figure :) You get the idea anyways...three year olds take a little longer to get things!!!