No Excuses!

I was driving to church last week, on my way to Bible study. We are doing a Precept study on the book of John. As many of you know the precept studies are awesome, but a lot of work! Well, I didn't finish my study and I was thinking about all the reasons I was too busy to get it done. When the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He said,"Having five kids is no excuse for poor character." Wow! Let me be clear, this was not a criticism, it is the truth. God is not in the business of condemning us, but correcting us. I knew what he was saying was right and I was very convicted.
It is funny how many times I hear, "Five kids, how do you do it? I can barely manage two!" Or, if I share I had a hard time getting something done, "Well, you have so many kids around all the time, it's understandable!" So, it was easy to allow myself the same excuses other people are willing to offer me.
So, as I was driving, I realized that, yes, I have been allowing my five kids to become an excuse for poor character in some areas of my life. Completing my Bible Study for example. Of course, I could have made the time to get it done. I didn't last week, but I did this week. It was good to spend the time in God's word studying, better than anything else I could have found to keep myself too busy!