godly parenting

Parenting is not easy. 

There are days when you are exhausted and hungry and frustrated.  You wonder why the world isn't bending down to meet your immediate needs at the sound of your screaming voice.  Demanding your own way is at the tip of your tongue.  Patience and self-control are the furthest things from your mind.

Why should it surprise us when our children act that way?

Everything in our human nature puts self first.  We don't want to wait on God's timing until he explains the big picture.  We desire to have every earthly comfort.  Our happiness is the measure of our quality of life.

Sometimes purposing to be a godly parent is choosing to do the hard thing.  It is dying to self.  It is admitting your failures and showing your children their need for a Savior.  It is making them wait.  It is teaching them to deal with disappointments.  It is experiencing discomfort together.  It is allowing them to feel unhappy once in awhile.  It is giving consequences for disobedience.  It is staying consistent.  It is loving without conditions.  It is giving grace in the unexpected.  It is modeling thankfulness even when you are tired.

Parenting is not easy, but it is so worth choosing to do the hard thing.

For how can I deny the same patience and selfless love my Heavenly Father put into parenting me?  The sooner my children learn to look to Jesus the better.  I choose to do the hard thing.  To bend down in humility and acknowledge my need for a Savior.  When I kneel down low enough my children will be able to see Him clearer.