There are days when I feel like a complete failure as a parent. Some days I have a short fuse and I yell, other days I feel like I will never make it through the next hour. I am sure we all have days like these. We are not perfect. We mess up. We fail. We are in need of forgiveness and grace.
Do you know how important it is for your children to see you being human and real? If they can't see you make mistakes, then they won't see you leaning on God for grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. If they see you fail, but not give up, they will learn how to act and react to times they fail. Our children learn by our examples. They watch us even when we don't realize they are watching. They need to see us falling to our knees asking for forgiveness. They need to see us humble ourselves and admit when we are wrong. When we have those days where we completely crash and burn as a parent, we need to go to our kids and apologize. This will show them their need to ask for forgiveness when they are wrong.
When our kids, who are old enough to know right from wrong, mess up and their sinful natures take over for a time, we need to tell them what they are doing is wrong and allow them time to process why it is wrong. They need to make the decision to apologize and work through it with The Lord, just as we do. When we sin, God gently reminds us of our sin, then He waits for us to come to Him to make it right. Our Heavenly Father is the greatest example of a perfect parent and we need to follow His example daily. I am slowly learning this as I parent my children. I am trying hard to follow God's ways and leave my own selfish ambitions to the wayside.
Our Bible verse for this blog and Facebook page is Proverbs 22:6. It says this:
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
This verse is telling us to direct our children in God's direction. We can't point them in the way we want them to go, instead we must show them who to follow, and that is Jesus Christ. We can't make this decision for them, but as they grow up, we can gently guide them into a real relationship with Him. The more they see us having a real and honest relationship with God, the more they will want it too. Don't just be a fan of God in front of your children. Show them you are a true follower, willing to do anything and everything for The Lord.
I encourage you to go and make things right with your kiddos if you have failed to apologize for messing up. They will love and respect you for your act of humility and love. God will reward you for your obedience to His Word.
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him
and make our home with him. ~ John 14:23
I wanted to give you all a wonderful PDF about God's love for you to print and use with your children. I pray these will be a blessing to you and your kiddos.
There are some specialty pages just for parents.
To download and print, just click on the link below the image.
I wanted to give you all a wonderful PDF about God's love for you to print and use with your children. I pray these will be a blessing to you and your kiddos.
There are some specialty pages just for parents.
To download and print, just click on the link below the image.
I remember as a kid, when my dad came and apologized for something he did, that my respect for him increased and we had a better relationship.
ReplyDeleteWe often think that we have to be perfect before our kids and that admitting mistakes is weakness, but that's a lie. We stand tallest when we can stoop to ask for forgiveness and admit our wrongs. What a powerful example that is to our children!
ReplyDelete