Building a merciful character

Let us continue with our Christian character tripod, today we will learn about mercy.

If I want to build in my son the character which we have been speaking about, I must first teach him how to follow the character of Christ, that is, to be a follower of the Lord Jesus and represent Him here on earth. When we are aware of this, we think before we take action and assume responsibility, even though we don’t want to sometimes, but we do it because He did and left us His example. Look what it says here:

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord.” (Psalm 103: 7)

Therefore if God is like that, why shouldn’t I?
In practice, for a child it takes much longer to assimilate this because God is still abstract, but for you, no! So dear mother once again I emphasis on: “Your example is worth more than a thousand words.” Be merciful to others and especially to your child. For that to happen, put yourself in his place, always!
When you do this, you will understand his point of view, the reason for such wrongdoing, what could’ve possibly led him to do those things, that way you will feel his pain, and therefore become aware of your own mistakes as a mother, and that’s when you can truly be merciful.

“The best way to be merciful is when you recognize your errors, failures and acknowledge how much was needed to change, that way you will understand others. » Viviane Freitas – Lecture Mothers and Children

So, in practice, it’s like this:

1- in order for me, as a mom, to have mercy: I need to be aware of my situation, recognize who I am, how much I need God, and then I’ll understand others when they make mistakes;
2- In order for me, as a mom, to teach my son mercy, I have to give him a true and real example and make a disciple out of him by teaching him to do unto others as Jesus was and is with us.

I like to use my son’s every day life experiences to teach him. He is nine years old and has a very troubled classmate, and I always heard him complain about him. One day I decided to teach him to be merciful and told him: “Gabi, your friend does not have a dad like you do, have you ever wondered how your life would be without your father? We do not know, but maybe he doesn’t have anyone to teach him what is right and wrong, like you do. So maybe he thinks he’s doing the right thing, and that’s why he acts like that. Let’s put ourselves in his place … “And like that I started a conversation that made him think and made him put himself in his classmate’s place. That was the last time I heard him complain about Itai, now he always says, “You have to be patient with him.”

Our daily testimony, along with their experiences properly directed, will lead our children to have a merciful character.

Invest your time and work on your child and the fruits will come at the right time!
See you next week, where we’ll talk about a character of Faith.