PARENTING ON PURPOSE

PARENTING ON PURPOSE  

It could be because of the circumstances I have faced in my life that makes me consider what I want most out of life. I know more than some that life is short and is not guaranteed. When I prioritize my life to look at what I most want to accomplish, the greatest thing I believe I can do in this life is to raise Godly children that have great character. No small task😅I have done a lot of hard jobs in my life, but I can say without hesitation that parenting has been the hardest of them all. And single parenting...whole 'nother level!! Parenting comes with the greatest of challenges but the greatest of rewards too if we can do it the right way. So, what is the right way? Let's look to the place where all truth emanates from; scripture.
It is often said that there is no manual that comes with having children or a 'how to raise your child' book, but contrary to that belief, God has a lot to say on how we should parent. There are many verses in the Bible that discuss good parenting skills, but I love that God started teaching the "how to's" way back in the Old Testament. The basic rules of life, the ten commandments, are laid out by God for the Israelites in Deuteronomy and they still apply to us today. The first rule is the MOST important and is our first rule for everything in life, including parenting. Deuteronomy 5:7, "You shall have no other gods before me" and Deuteronomy 6:5 further explains, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Jesus said this same thing in Matthew 22:37, "Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind". This sounds so easy, but for me in the day to day business of life, I can forget to work on my relationship with God. Oh sure, I love God and and go to church every weekend, but am I taking the time to spend precious moments with Him every day by reading the Bible and praying? The most important thing that will help me in all areas of life is being in love with Jesus and knowing Him more every day. When I love God with my everything and make Him the most important thing in my life, everything else seems to work better. I have more patience, more kindness, more love to give others and especially my children who seem to know just what buttons to push in my life to get me to stretch my boundaries in every area. 😂 Let me encourage you to really evaluate your heart and life this week to see if you have this first area of life correct.

Once we have taken care to love God above all else, the next area in parenting is to teach our children the same principle. Deuteronomy 6:7, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Basically, you should be talking about loving God and walking with Him CONSTANTLY. As a pastor's wife, I have heard people talk about giving their children the opportunity to hear about all religions and letting them make up their minds about which one to choose. I'm sorry to say, but this has got to be one of the worst decisions you could ever make in life. Do you let your children decide if they want to put their hand in the fire? Chase a ball into a busy street? Go to school? No! Why? Because we want the best for them and want to protect them from harm. In order to do that, we tell them the truth no matter how much it will upset them. If you believe in a heaven and a hell, then it is your job to tell your children the truth. And it needs to come from you, not from just the church or Christian school. Kids can smell BS from a mile away and if you say one thing, but live another, you are not sharing the essential truth they need in life. How far does the whole 'Do as I say and not as I do' go in your household? It doesn't go very far in mine. 

I had the privilege of listening to my cousin, Michelle Ruhlman teach on this very subject and I was so moved and inspired I had to share with you. If you have read any of my other blogs, you know that I can be a bit of a scaredy cat in life. When it comes to my children, I am much the same. If I get thinking about our world and how crazy things are right now, I am tempted to be afraid for them. It seems as if our world is calling right wrong, wrong right, up is now down and down is up. My cousin said we are living in a very anti-God world and I believe she is one hundred percent correct. With that in mind, I can want to protect my children and not have them say anything about their faith to others or what they believe in just to protect them from ridicule. But Michelle reminded us of the scripture in Esther where she said that God called her for 'such a time as this' and that hit me square in the chest. God is not surprised by the world that we are living in. He purposefully put us in this time knowing that He would provide the things we need for such a time as this. God never fails to deliver on His promises, but we have to do our part and to me, that part is readying our kids for this world. We need to be more in love with Jesus ourselves to help our kids be more in love with Him, knowing His principles and His promises so they can face the world we live in today. God never said it would be easy, but He did promise to never leave or forsake us.

So along with encouraging you this week, I also want to challenge you. Where are you at with putting God first in your life and where are you at in teaching your kids to do the same? Do you teach them something about Him every day or do you expect the church or school to do it for you? If other things such as school, sports, tv, video games, etc. are taking the top importance in your life or your kid's lives, your priorities are wrong. Put God first! It's not too late to start today and make Him the first priority in your life. And if your kids are grown and out of the home, it's not too late to pray that God would get ahold of their hearts and bring them back to Him. Let's work together to make Jesus first in our beautifully broken lives.