TEEN COMMANDMENTS (Part 1) -- Devotional for May 30, from "Good Seeds"

My son, observe the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. Bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. (Proverbs 6:20-21)

A seventeen year old friend wrote and told me her mom thinks she’s rude and uncooperative in the family. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write back with a bit of counsel. Now I know unasked for advice just begs to be ignored, but I chanced it anyway, on the chance she would listen to another parent, speaking to her on behalf of her own. The Wise Man of old tells the young that if they would have a good life they must “heed the commands of their fathers and hear the counsel of their mothers.” So, I offer these Ten Teen Commandments to my young friend – and to all her teenaged counterparts far and wide.
#1 Walk a mile in her shoes. Picture yourself in your mom’s shoes, with a teenaged daughter of your own. Even though that may be 25 years from now, believe me, you will remember these days, and the way you treated your mom. Do yourself a favor and try to see you from your parents’ point of view. Do they have a case? Are you at times mean and ungrateful? Others may doubt it, but those who live with you know you best. Their opinion holds the greater weight. That being true, consider this:
#2 Close approximation tends toward irritation. Think of an overcrowded porcupine family (ouch!), and you’ll get the idea. So make way and make room – give space and give grace, to one another.
#3 No matter what kind of person you are, if you’re not kind, you’re the wrong kind! We need kindness in another’s troubles and courage in our own. Let kindness be the rule for everything you say and do, for And part of kindness is politeness: “Great big doors open with ease, with words like ‘Thank you,’ and ‘If you please.’” Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no unwholesome words come out of your mouth, but only words that are good for the building up of others, words that minister grace to all who hear them.”
#4 Don’t try to fix anyone but yourself. If your mom is 95% in the wrong, that means you only have your own 5% to work on. Leave her to deal with her big part, while you take care of your small part. (But don’t be surprised if your percentages are off by a bit!)
#5 Treat your parents as you would be treated. Don’t let it bother you that they, the more mature ones, don’t act first. The first one to think of it must be the first one to do it. That’s the rule for the Golden Rule.