I've been keeping up with the GirlTalk blog (see the link in the column to the right) this week as they've been discussing a Mother's Faith. It has been so encouraging to me to trust in the Lord, specifically in parenting.
What I do or don't do...how consistent I am in discipline...the fears that lurk in my mind regarding my children...these are not the focus of my parenting. The focus of my parenting has to be faith and trust in the Lord. He has conquered my sinful heart, and He can conquer the sinful hearts of my children. I must walk in obedience to Him, disciplining them and training them in righteousness, always pointing them to Jesus and His forgiveness. But ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who must work in their hearts, drawing them to Himself.
I've been encouraged too by the recent sermons at our church, delving into the lives of the "fathers of our faith." We've been studying through Genesis and looking at, most recently, the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is amazing to me to see how sinful these men were (and their wives too!) and yet God used them so mightily. They were deceitful and untrusting. Am I those things? Of course, I am. But God used them.
And I know He'll use me too. Even when I fear that my own sinfulness is pointing my children in the WRONG direction, I can trust that He can use even my sin for good in their lives. I pray that He will help me to believe His promises more and more in this regard. And I pray that He will have mercy on them just as He has had mercy on me.
What I do or don't do...how consistent I am in discipline...the fears that lurk in my mind regarding my children...these are not the focus of my parenting. The focus of my parenting has to be faith and trust in the Lord. He has conquered my sinful heart, and He can conquer the sinful hearts of my children. I must walk in obedience to Him, disciplining them and training them in righteousness, always pointing them to Jesus and His forgiveness. But ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who must work in their hearts, drawing them to Himself.
I've been encouraged too by the recent sermons at our church, delving into the lives of the "fathers of our faith." We've been studying through Genesis and looking at, most recently, the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is amazing to me to see how sinful these men were (and their wives too!) and yet God used them so mightily. They were deceitful and untrusting. Am I those things? Of course, I am. But God used them.
And I know He'll use me too. Even when I fear that my own sinfulness is pointing my children in the WRONG direction, I can trust that He can use even my sin for good in their lives. I pray that He will help me to believe His promises more and more in this regard. And I pray that He will have mercy on them just as He has had mercy on me.
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