Your Role as a Mother

At what point do we start to take responsibility for the actions of our children? As parents God gives us the task of nurturing and caring for our children, to ensure they are taken care of during their formative years. All too often we lose sight of this because society has groomed us to believe the best way to become a good parent is to be your child's friend, by convincing them you are their equal. There are a few different definitions of equal, but two of my favorites are (1. of the same rank) and (2. evenly proportioned or balanced). If you were born in 1965 and you are two years from being half a century old, how is it that you are evenly proportioned or balanced with your child who is exactly 27 years younger than you? According to

 Proverbs 23:13-14 
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

Now granted a good majority of us were not saved, or maybe saved but were not actively following the guidelines God had set in place for us when our children were born. When we were young and naive we thought being a good parent was to provide the necessities (food, shelter and clothing) and an occasional extra if we could afford it. We had no idea we were suppose to be protecting our children's souls and teaching them the fundamentals of the bible. I mean how could we teach something we knew little or nothing about? I grew up in church like many of you and during that time I can honestly say I was going through the motions. In other words I only went because I was required to attend. I had no idea of the reasons and purpose at the time because during service my mind was mostly occupied with what I would be doing after the service ended. Now that I am attempting to comply with God's purpose for my life it has been extremely difficult to make that transition. I was never one to fall into the parent/friend trap with my children and as my children will attest they did receive corporal punishment when needed. I think my biggest flaw was attempting to compensate for the missing parent. According to

1John 3:18
Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth

So for me working two jobs to accommodate a lifestyle I felt my children deserved was number one on my priority list. In doing so that allowed my children a great deal of idle time. Since I was not regularly reenforcing God's plans and expectations for their lives, and I was trusting them to do the right thing based on what I had taught them about right and wrong. I did not understand that I should also be preparing them for the possibility of influences outside of our home. But God has given me the privilege of a second chance.

Isaiah 43:18
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old

So basically I can not change what has already occurred. However the relationship with my children going forward is based strictly on God's principles for my life and my role as their mother. Never lose sight of your true purpose. The devil can paint a picture so vivid that will having you thinking all is a lost cause. Do not feed into that lie. Your child's soul is definitely worth fighting for everyday. Just remember someone had to fight for your soul to get you to where you are today.

Lady 4.0