day no. 14,679: qualified and motivated

Galatians 6:1-2

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Parents often find their children caught in transgression and in need of discipline and restoration. But often we find ourselves not in the spirit of gentleness required to do so. And by the time we have simmered down, we often no longer find ourselves particularly motivated to address the transgression.

So when we are motivated (by anger) we are unqualified to address it and by the time we are qualified (having a spirit of gentleness) we are unmotivated to address it. In other words, when we are willing, we are unable and when we are able, we are often unwilling.

“When the parent is qualified to discipline, he probably does not feel like it, and when he feels like it, he is probably not qualified.”  ― Douglas Wilson, Standing on the Promises

This demonstrates that it is often not our love of our children and hatred of sin that drives us, but rather our own selfish preference and/or convenience. When we are mad at sin, we are quick to act; but once the anger has worn off, we no longer feel like acting. If we loved our children and hated sin more, we would work harder to qualify our anger into a spirit of gentleness in order to address our little ones caught in transgressions sooner. If we loved our children and hated sin more, we would work harder to motivate ourselves to address sin once we have calmed down if it takes a while to get ourselves qualified. This would go great lengths to demonstrate that it isn't merely our inconvenience that drives how, what and when we address transgression.