"Fathers,
do not irritate and provoke your
children to anger [do not exasperate them to resentment], but rear them
[tenderly] in the training and
discipline and the counsel and
admonition of the Lord."
Ephesians 6:4 (AMPLIFIED VERSION)
Having raised 5 children I see the wisdom of the
above verse. The
Amplified Version I used is one which adds the implications or tone of the Greek
words, the language in which the New Testament was written.
Notice the implications:
“do not exasperate them to
resentment, but rear them tenderly”
The context of your training is to be one of
encouragement, believing in your child (especially when you don’t see much to
believe in), and seeking to evoke and awaken the best of God’s image within
them.
Parenting is hard, hard, hard work.
But there is no greater way to expend your energies.
I suspect that the two most important and difficult things you will do in
your lifetime will be to do marriage and parenting well.
“Lord,
please give each parent reading this the gift of being able to see the image of
God in each of their children regardless of how blurred that image may be.
Give them a heart that believes that you are up to something good in each
child, young or old. And Give them
the ability to express their heart for their children to their
children so that they know that their parents, like God, are for them and not
against them. Amen”
As you shared this past Sunday, one of my most favorite songs came to mind. It is a song I listen too when I feel the weight of this world and the voice of this world trying to tell me who or what I am, how I don't measure up or how I am such a mess up. Sometimes I listen to this song several times in a row so the voice of my everlasting, heavenly Father drowns out the world.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me share the story behind the song:
http://youtu.be/ygR8Q7IaI44
Now here is one of the videos from YouTube with the lyrics of the song:
http://youtu.be/Z6pS5HCkgPI
I can't help the tears that come when I listen to these words. How is it I let the world drown out His lovely voice and His wonderful message to me? This song makes my heart swell in hearing once again His love for me, His design and purpose for me. I hope your heart swells up too.