Parenting is not for wimps

Your life may have been difficult. Perhaps, your parents struggled to be the best example of love and nurturing qualities. We are all broken people. We are on a journey!

Our life experience can grow our ability to love, be patient, and compassionate, have self-control, and be the best parent. These are some of the key qualities of raising children. However, the most important key is being a parent who puts God first. This parent understands their sinful nature, seeks God for every step, submits to the authority of God, asks forgiveness of God and others when they fall short in words or actions, and shares the wisdom found in scripture with their kids.

Being a parent is not for the faint of heart. You are not given a human guide to follow. However, you are given the most important guide that stands the test of time, this guide is for every stage of life, it is true no matter the generation, its truth never fades.

Where can you find this amazing guide for life and parenting? The Bible is filled with wisdom from the Lord. John 1 talks about the Word coming alive, Hebrews 4:12 shares, the Word is sharper than any two-edged sword, and James 1:21 shares that the Word has the power to save as we use it aloud declaring its wisdom.

I remember being single, then newly married, and watching people with children. I would observe the relationships at stores, in nature, and at restaurants, and I would think, I want to make a difference for a child.

I may have even thought as I saw a strong-willed child sass their parent, Wow I couldn’t let my kid get away with that behavior.

Once I had children I realized how in my own strength, I can be prideful, selfish, and demanding my way. I needed to work on my relationship with my Father God, discover the truth in the Bible, and seek like-minded women who are older and can share with me what they have learned from the joys and challenges of parenting. The best place to gain this wisdom I have found was in women who love Jesus, walk in humility, see their need for Him, and share their lives freely with younger moms.

No matter your stage in life, God is a Father to the Fatherless, if you were abandoned if you were mistreated by your parents, He is true to His promises.

Psalm 27:10 -13 Although my father and my mother have abandoned me, Yet the LORD will take me up [adopt me as His child]. [11] Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me on a level path Because of my enemies [who lie in wait]. [12] Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, For false witnesses have come against me; They breathe out violence. [13] I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

We must not despair and we must not give up learning how to be a better parents. We come with our own baggage of good and misplaced parenting, our own hurts, our abandonment, and our trauma. Hurt people hurt people unless they seek to be healed. We must give all these hurts to our Father and let Him heal and restore our lives.

When we take this step of faith in the unseen yet amazing, trustworthy, Almighty God we can break the chains of past trauma and generational mistakes and start a new path of love, compassion, forgiveness, and restoration in the God who creates us and wants to give us the world full of promise and purposes.

Helpful scriptures to memorize and post in your home or car: Proverbs 15:1, Galatians 5, Colossians 3:20-21, Matthew 6, Psalm 130

Proverbs 15:1 NLT
A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.

Galatians 5:14-15 NLT
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [15] But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Colossians 3:20-21 NLT
Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. [21] Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

Matthew 6:9-15 NLT
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. [10] May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today the food we need, [12] and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. [13] And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. [14] “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. [15] But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Keeping our minds, souls, and spirits fixed on His truth can change the trajectory of our lives and those in our family for generations but we need God’s help to heal and restore.

Psalm 103:6-18 MSG
GOD makes everything come out right; He puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how he went about his work, opened up his plans to all Israel. GOD is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, He’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, GOD feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. GOD’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear Him, Making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever He said.