Life lessons from a child

Over the weekend my daughter did a couple of things and the Lord gave me quite the revelation. One of the things is very scary, so if you're an emotional person prepare yourself. 

We were home cleaning and Chloe who is three years old was watching tv and dancing around. I could see her out of the corner of my eye and she was mentally engaged with the tv but her body was climbing onto the arm of the couch. I don't know about you but I grew up in a household where climbing and jumping on the furniture was a huge No-No. I didn't understand what the big deal was as a child because I obviously had no concept of the value of something. I was just trying to have fun and so was Chloe in that moment. I told her to get down and I asked her if she knew that wasn't a good choice and she said yes. I told her not to do it again, just like I have probably close to a hundred times at this point. 

Fast forward to the next day and we were leaving a car dealership that had already closed their gates. My Mother-In-Law was with us and our vehicles were parked in front of the gate. My husband picked Chloe up and placed her over the gate and we both proceeded to assist my Mother-In-Law over the gate. One of them looked up and started screaming for Chloe to stop running and then we all started screaming. The car dealership we were at was along a highway and all any of us could imagine was that if she kept running she would be hit by a semi-truck. 

I couldn't even see Chloe, I just responded to what was happening. Luckily she stopped and my husband ended up telling me that she was nowhere near the road, she actually never made it past half of the truck. You couldn't tell my body or my mind that though, I cried SO hard at the thought of what could have happened. Talk about STRESSFUL! We had a talk with my daughter, as we have many many times before about running out into the street. My husband attempted to make her promise that she wouldn't do it again but I quickly informed him that he couldn't ask that of her. She doesn't have the self control to make that kind of promise, she's only three. 

So here's the revelation, while my daughter is very intelligent and knows right from wrong when asked she's not mature enough to apply that information to make the best decision. He literally gave me this scripture:

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galatians 5:16 NIV

Proper application of information separates the immature from the mature, the intelligent from the wise. Chloe has an excuse, her frontal lobe which is where self control lives, is not fully developed for her. But what about us? What keeps us from not living according to the impulses in our flesh? This is about more than impulses that are sinful but even when it comes to poor food cravings, money decisions, or even being led by our emotions in how we handle our relationships? 

Ever since this weekend I have been considering my decisions and whether I'm allowing my flesh to lead me or if I am being led by knowledge and wisdom. Ask yourself these questions: 

Who's leading me? Flesh or the Spirit

Am I just intelligent, wise, or both? (Because they're not the same)

Do my choices align with the path I say I want to be on? 

"For wisdom is a defense even as money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the life of him who has it." Ecclesiastes 7:12 AMPC  

Let's chat in the comments!