"But I don't want to!"

Have you ever met a very determined, very stubborn 4-year-old? If not, you are welcome to visit our home! Our Tyson is the sweetest, most loving, most gentle, little boy I've ever met but, he is also the most headstrong! Lately, if we ask Tyson to do something that he doesn't want to do, we hear, "But I don't want to" over and over again. 

Yesterday, Tyson took a toy from Allison while she was playing with it. She started crying because she was broken-hearted, of course. I asked Tyson to give the toy back to Allison and he immediately screamed, "But I don't want to!"  He probably said that sentence at least ten times. Each time I would respond with, "It doesn't always matter what we want to do." This continued for a while and eventually, I took the toy from Tyson and gave it back to Allison. It took a bit but Tyson did end up getting over it and found something else to play with.

I seriously believe that Tyson would have argued with me all day. In fact, this happens repeatedly over all sorts of things like putting on his pajamas, (But I don't want to!) eating his dinner, (But I don't want to!) and buckling his seatbelt (But I don't want to!) This is a kid that will stand his ground! I'm choosing to believe this will be a really good trait when he's older and dealing with peer pressure! Until then, it's difficult!

As we've been dealing with this over the past few weeks, God has been revealing something to me. As adults we may not scream, "But I don't want to," but how often do we have this same type of attitude toward the situations life throws at us?

Selfishness is something we all deal with but I truly believe it is so much more of a problem than we admit. If we honestly think about it, we almost always have selfish motives in one way or another. Asking God to reveal this in your heart can be scary and saddening. I've noticed it more in myself lately than I care to share. I may not yell out, "But I don't want to," like Tyson does but that's only because I've learned to bite my tongue.

At church today we read Galatians 5:19-21 from the Passion Translation. It says, "The cravings of the self-life are obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior. Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!"

Most of those things obviously come from selfish motives and we have no problem labeling those as inappropriate or evil. But what about hatred of those that get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of other's blessings, etc? Most of us get aggravated when someone gets in our way and we'll argue all day about things that really don't matter. Our world is full of opinions and everyone KNOWS their opinion is the only one that is worthy of being heard. Comparision and being envious of others is just the norm for most people and resenting others instead of celebrating with them is common for most as well. We see those things as pretty typical nowadays but God puts them in the same category as murder, uncontrolled addictions, and sexual immorality. Why? Because at the core of all of these issues, is SELF.

God has been showing me this through Tyson for a couple weeks now but hearing it also today at church really got my attention. Being self-centered, always desiring comfort for ourselves, wanting to be right and manipulating people and situations around us to make things better for ourselves may be the norm in our culture but its not acceptable in God's culture. 

Today I am thankful that God will always gently reveal things that are hindering our growth if we allow Him to. He uses our children, our situations, our friends, and so much more to teach us and correct us. I am also grateful that He will restore us, change our perspective, and help us to place our focus on Him instead of ourselves.

Each time I hear Tyson yell, "But I don't want to," I pray that it will remind me how selfish humans naturally are. And when I respond to him by saying, "Its not always about what we want," I pray that I will refocus my attention on God and all that He is doing around me.