Positive Reinforcement

Luke 19:17, “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.”

I have a dog that I have been trying to run field trials with, and in the process I have learned that I can’t rely on a trainer to do all the work, but that I have to be constantly training and reinforcing what the professionals have taught him. So as I learn to be a trainer I have discovered a spiritual truth about positive reinforcement.

Seems that somewhere along the way I learned, or perhaps decided that success was expected. If someone around me did a good job, then they had simply done what they should have, and no reward is necessary. But if they fail, then correction is always at the ready. In fact, to my older children I say sorry for such an attitude, and I should have been more complimentary of the successes instead of demanding them.

My youngest of course reaps the benefits of Christ having worked on my character these 47 years as I find genuine joy in his successes and failures.

All of which is beside the point. My dog has been trained to find game, point game, and wait for the handler to instruct on his next move whether it be to heal, continue to hunt, or retrieve. He has been trained to wow, turn, run forward, and here. But invariably as we work together I discover time and time again that he is first and foremost a dog, and lastly and never to be a machine. As a result, the first rule of training is to create a situation where the dog will succeed. But my dog… he’s like his owner… is hard-headed, independent, and smart. He pushes the boundaries every chance he gets, and correction comes.

Oh to the dog… but more often to me. You see I have help from a couple that has owned multiple field champions, and they are constantly having to remind me to praise my dog when he does something right. In fact, I think they said, “Correction only works when praise is used to let him know when he has done it right.”

Stupid that I am learning this so late in the game, but think about it. There are plenty of times Christ corrected, but how many see the times He praised? Peter was corrected with “get behind me Satan” but only after being praised as a rock that Christ would found His church on. What other examples are there besides this and the scripture above? Honestly I am having a difficult time remembering them because my mindset has been so unlike Christ’s for so long.

Good is always deserving of a reward. Even when that good is what we should have been doing all along. How much more effective is correction when right is rewarded?

Father help me to see the positive, to reward the positive, to rejoice in the positive, to praise the good that is all around me… to be like Christ.