Why God Repeats
“Don’t play in the street.”
“Look both ways before you cross.”
“Don’t stand in the dog’s water bowl.”
When my children were young, I repeated myself—a lot.
Market research suggests that we need to see and hear something seven times before we take notice. I didn’t know I was employing advertising psychology in my child rearing, but hey, whatever it takes.
I used repetition for training purposes, and, I’m happy to announce, it worked. Neither of my daughters play in the street, and they both know how to successfully navigate from one curb to the other. Good thing, since one now works in Washington, D.C., one of the busiest cities in the world. And neither (as far as I know) stand in their dog’s water bowl.
I used repetition in child rearing for another purpose—to communicate truth:
From the time they were born, I’d gather them in my arms, nuzzle their cheeks, and whisper, “I love you.” When they grew too heavy to lift, I’d draw them close, nose to nose and eyes to eyes, and declare, “I love you.” And when they squirmed, sighed, and rolled their eyes as teenagers, I’d hug ‘em anyway and declare (loudly enough for their friends to hear), “I love you.”
“I love you” wasn’t the only truth I repeated often. I also said, “God loves you.” Sometimes I’d say both sentences at the same time. “I love you, and God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die on a cross so you could live with Him forever in heaven.”
By God’s grace, both these truths became real to my daughters.
Training and truth. Two beautiful reasons for repetition.
God, our heavenly Father, uses repetition a lot, too. In Scripture, He uses it for training purposes:
“Thou shalt not . . .”
“Fear not.”
“Praise the Lord.”
And for truth purposes:
“I am God.”
“I am Lord.”
“I love you.”
Jesus used repetition in one of his most famous discourses, the Sermon on the Mount. He uttered the word blessed nine times in nine sentences to train us in righteous living and to teach us a culture-defying and life-sustaining truth—God blesses His children even in our fiercest trials.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . . Blessed are those who mourn. . . . Blessed are the meek. . . . Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. . . . Blessed are the merciful. . . . Blessed are the pure in heart. . . . Blessed are the peacemakers. . . . Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. . . . Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:3–11).
Jesus’ audience believed that those who struggled weren’t blessed by God. Telling them the truth only once that God uses trials to bless His children wouldn’t be enough to overcome their faulty training. Apparently not even twice would do it. Nine times.
The more we hear these nine Blessed’s, the more we’ll remember them too. We need to remember them when we’re tempted to pin someone to the wall because we know we’re right. When we’re this close to stirring the pot of an argument or adding our voice to a disagreement.
Sometimes, when we don’t see immediate results, we can be tempted to think a shortcut might be more effective. And discovering that being a Christian can make life harder can make us question whether it’s worth it.
But then we remember those nine times Jesus taught the truth. We trust that we’re blessed when we work toward a peaceful resolution instead of adding to the discord. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, not when we take a short cut. When we’re persecuted instead of praised.
Whether in this life or the next, the truths Jesus proclaimed over and over assure us that God will bless us when we honor and obey Him.
I don’t know if my daughters still hear my voice in their heads as they approach a crosswalk or feel the urge to stand in the dog’s water bowl. I do hope my oft-repeated words help them remember how much I love them.
And how much God loves them.
Training and truth.
Truth and training.
Blessed are those . . .
–Written by Lori Hatcher. Used by permission from the author.
