As co-op comes to a close for this school year, and I am finishing the "love" verses, this will be the last "Inspiration of the Week". I hope you've enjoyed these entries. They forced me to write down some of my Bible-time thoughts, which I tend to shy away from - at least for all the world to read. ;)
Quote of the Week
We destroy the love of learning in children, which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to work for petty rewards--gold stars, or papers marked 100 and tacked to the wall, or A's on report cards, or honor rolls, or dean's lists or Phi Beta Kappa keys--in short, for the ignoble satisfaction of feeling that they are better than someone else.
-John Holt
I don't typically comment on the quotes, but I feel pretty strongly about this one. I want my children to excel because they love learning. By no means do I never praise or reward my children for work well-done, quite the contrary, in fact. But, if I ever get to the point that my children will only "perform" in order to get a pat on the back or to be acknowledged that they are better than someone else, then I will have failed as their teacher and mother.
Learning should lead them to whatever God-given passions and talents they have been given. I want them to chase after God's will with such zeal and excitement that learning will simply be the avenue that leads them in His direction.
I don't pretend to know exactly how to go about this. But I do know that being excited with them when they take a different learning path than I might have scheduled for the day is far more meaningful to them than a gold star on their perfectly scored spelling test. And for that, I'm ever so thankful.
1 Corinthians 13 Inspiration
Love never fails....
1.) What is love?
1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
2.) What did Love do?
1 John 4:9-10 "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not the we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
3.) How do we love?
1 John 4:12 "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."
1 John 5:2-4 "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome."
1+2+3 = LOVE never fails.
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Apr. 22, 2008 - Untitled Comment