One sunny day last week, we were in the car listening to Christian radio and the song “Ain’t Nobody” by Cody Carnes comes on. It’s catchy & encouraging; I’m singing along, and my 3-year-old from the backseat says, “What song is this?”
When I was a kid, there was a saying: “Ain’t ain’t a word cause it ain’t in the dictionary” (fyi – at that time it wasn’t).
And another: “Don’t say ain’t, you mother will faint. Your dad will fall in a bucket of paint. Your sister will cry, your brother will sigh. A needle will fall right into your eye.”
The day came when “ain’t” was literally added to the dictionary. Now it’s use doesn’t seem out of place.
I’m not sure my toddler understood what “ain’t nobody loves me like Jesus” meant. I think she heard it more like “nobody loves Jesus” or “nobody loves me.” She seemed a bit confused. I found it humorous.
Not so humorous? The reminder that these little kiddos are literal sponges, listening to everything (not unlike the “Alexa” in our house) and absorbing it all.
They hear grumbling and complaining. They see how we treat others, how we speak to and about others. They notice how we feel about ourselves. They are listening to the lyrics of the songs we have on our playlists (even if they don’t understand the meaning). Their brains and hearts are bombarded with countless advertisements and innuendos in media, in the grocery stores, even in our homes. They soak it up and it comes back out in their words and attitudes.
This knowledge has made me even more aware of the example I am and need to be setting for my kids and any others I come into contact with. I make it a point to tell her she’s beautiful and I hear it repeated back to me often, reminding me that I shouldn’t display negative talk or behavior towards my own self.
So if you have your own kids or are around anybody else’s (including mine) – be careful with what you say, and the behavior you exhibit. Not only might they repeat something super embarrassing at the wrong time, but their minds are extremely impressionable.
For believers, we bear even more responsibility to model a life and attitude worth emulating. We are to make disciples, starting with those in our own homes. It’s not easy, and I’ll be the first to admit I fall short every day. But its so very important and so worth it.
Another song came on during a different car trip last week, and again I heard, “What song is this?” over my own singing about halfway through the song. It was “Amazing Grace.”
Our kids are listening. They’re observing and watching and learning. So make sure the example you set is the right one. There ain’t no other way.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
“Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble,
it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.“
Matthew 18:1-6
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