Community Church Blog

The Power to Parent

by Maureen Furno on March 09, 2020

I would not say that I have the natural bent to be a godly parent.  In fact that sounds like a scary concept to me, a goal too high for me to achieve.  Perhaps you feel the same way. I was a strong-willed child who became a strong-willed adult.  Then the Lord, in His perfect wisdom, gave us a strong-willed son. What was I going to do?

Now is not the time to stop reading.  The Lord is changing me and He has the power to change you. Two verses of scripture pointed me in the right direction.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—“ Titus 1:1 (NIV)

So good to hear, and most importantly, to know that God has not left us to parent our children in our own strength and insights.  It is the Lord who gives us everything we need to lead a godly life.

My husband, Matt, and I have five children.  Our dear daughter, Michelle, is in heaven and we are looking forward to one day greeting her there with great joy.  Our other four children are also dear to us but the years have been challenging and I have not always felt that I have been a godly parent.

At times I have wrung my hands with worry.  Would they follow the Lord or fall away and lead an ungodly life? Have I done a good job?  Why are other parents so much more confident?  Other parents are always thinking of teachable moments and important life lessons to impart to their children.  As my Mother would say, “I was wishing my life away” trying to be the perfect parent.  

One Sunday afternoon when our children were all in their teen years, I was doing an extra amount of hand wringing.  With a calm spirit, Matt asked me if I really wanted to please God. “Of course” was my answer, I truly wanted to please the LORD.  Immediately, I thought he had a hot tip or a quick parenting trick that would make me just like the other perfect parents and make this parenting job so much easier. With that same calmness he responded: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Matt’s words were from the Lord. I was trusting in my skills and abilities to parent our children.  As a parent, my job was and is to earnestly seek Him and He will bring the reward.

The reward that I had been seeking in my own strength was compliant children who would be obedient to my every word, meet my every expectation and be model citizens so that my reputation would be esteemed throughout the neighborhood.  Clearly, it was all about me.

I chuckle now to think how the Lord planned our family in eternity past, as I know He planned yours. He put us all together because we needed each other.  Not to be perfect but to be perfected.  

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (NAS)



Tags: faith, perfect, godly, knowledge, reward

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