Weaknesses and Strengths Are Flip Sides of the Same Coin

  It's not difficult for a parent to recognize areas of weakness in her child's character.  That's one of the aspects of our job, to help our children mature and grow, physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, etc.  The responsibility of this can be overwhelming at times, and personally it drives me to cry out to God for guidance and wisdom.
  This past week I had a moment with one of my girls to discuss a weakness that I had consistently noticed, and that had been particularly troublesome that morning.  She had been using her exceptional mind to help others see what she thought they needed to do.  Her manner was less than loving, so her intentions, however pure in her mind, were lost on her sisters.  It was time for a Mama talk.  I pulled her to one side and discussed the events of that morning.
  We discussed that each of us have weaknesses in our character that are exasperated by selfishness and sin.   I told her that her heart was like a garden, and that sin was like a weed growing there.  Left untended, she would repeat the same selfish behaviors until they became habit, and then the weed would grow larger and stronger until it resembled a mighty oak rather than a weed.  We talked about the comparative difficulty in pulling a weed or an oak tree.   Much better to start changing selfish behaviors while young, before they become strong habits.    
  But there is more to our weaknesses than we often notice.  Many weaknesses, when turned over to Jesus in repentance and honest seeking of the scriptures can be turned into great strengths.  For instance, the bossy child, when submitted to Christ, becomes the wise soul who speaks the truth in love.  Or, the stubborn child who resists correction and rules, when submitted to Christ becomes the determined optimist, ready to take on the next challenge, unswerving in the Truth.
  I desired for my daughter to leave our little chat with an awareness of her present behavior, but with the hope that God could change it to use for His glory.  So we talked about weaknesses and strengths, and how they resembled the coin with two flip sides.  We discussed how every weakness when submitted to Christ can become a strength in character.  And then I asked her if she desired me to make her aware of when she was repeating the behavior she had shown that morning.  She told me that she wanted my help, so we came up with a code word that I could say to make her aware without embarrassing her in front of her sisters.  Not only did that help her to know she wouldn't be humiliated each time I brought it up, but it tied another heart string between us, as we shared that little secret word.
  As we train up our children in the way they should go, let us remember to speak the truth to them in love.  To let our admonishes, when possible, be laced with hope.  And let us continually ask the Lord who is strong in our weaknesses to give us wisdom to guide those He has entrusted to us.