Mess It Up, Clean It Up

I’ve been subscribing to Mark’s podcast for a while now. Although the lessons are for parents and teenagers, this one caught my eye as I was thinking about Christians like you and I, who “mess up.” If there is one thing that parents need to teach their teenager, it is the concept, “If you mess it up, you clean it up.” And that applies to more than trashing the car. Teenagers need to learn that someone else isn’t going to clean up their messes for them. Not only messes like what they leave in the kitchen, but also the messes they make in their relationships and with the authorities in their life. A parent who always picks up the messes for their teen, teaches them that they aren’t responsible for what they do. I’ve found that when a teen has to clean up their own messes, they miraculously begin making less messes to begin with. ©2010 Mark Gregston Markgregston.com . 903-668-2173 People can easily fall into the trap of blaming others for the messes they create - in relationships, finances, etc. I knew a sister who seemed to have such a critical spirit, yet glossed over her edgy ways, with a spiritual mask of servanthood and voiced desire to please Christ. Leaders create messes by becoming so focused on their success, results and needs that they create messes in relationships. Unaccountable, immature responses take the form of excuses of “why they are or act” the way they do. YUK!