Parenthood is not a journey we can take lightly. Nor is it up to us to dictate the terms of this calling. This is a sacred duty to which we must faithfully fulfill the obligations given to us by God.
Parents hold the sole primary responsibility for raising their kids. Of course, it still takes a village, but parents remain in the driver seat regarding the direction, training, and instruction provided to their children.
And while this journey is meaningful and highly rewarding, it’s also very demanding and exhausting in the thick of it all. This can leave us with a short fuse and parenting out of anger and pride, or perhaps in fear and weariness leave our parenting responsibilities to others.
On the one hand, we want our kids to live up to our standards and so we become extra strict on them and easily frustrated when they miss the mark. But these standards are often much more about our own pride and preferences rather than the good God wants us to guide them into. Here we must be careful not to harm our kids by loading them down with burdens God never intended them to carry.
On the other hand, we’re prone to neglect our parenting duties when we’re feeling overwhelmed or just ill equipped to navigate it all. And this often results in deferring our responsibilities to others – such as to the school, television, or even the youth group at church. While others certainly play a vital part in the raising of our children, we don’t get to neglect our duty just because it’s more convenient to do so.
Many of the problems we see in society can be traced back to the home, and also to how parents answer the call of this sacred duty.
When God has given you children to parent he has also given you a sacred duty to fulfill. Don’t let pride or neglect keep you from answering this call.
Photo by Joice Kelly on Unsplash
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