My greatest fear as a parent is not
that my kids might have trouble with these issues:
- drugs
- premarital sex
- peer pressure
- marriage to the wrong person
- foolish decisions
- that they will turn away from the faith
My greatest fear as a parent echos the words of Psalm chapter 69, verse 6…
D of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
I fear that I might somehow lead my children astray…
- By living a poor example of a Christ-follower.
- By something I say that wounds them deeply.
- By patterns in how I treat them that could foster bitterness in their heart.
- By some failing in my life that brings shame to the family or the name of Christ.
And that kind of fear can be a good thing for a parent to have…
It’s one of the reasons that I have a personal time with the LORD each morning.
It’s one of the things that motivates me to work on my own defensiveness and impatience.
It’s one of the reasons I continually ask the Spirit of God to kill the pride in my life.
Not only is my relationship with the LORD precious enough that I want to make sure I’m not offending Him, I’m also aware, almost minute by minute, that I am one of the most influential people in the lives of my children.
Think about that for a minute.
If you are a parent, you are one of the most influential people in your child’s life.
That’s a heavy responsibility that SHOULD strike fear into your heart.
So I invite you to join me in praying this prayer in regard to your children everyday,
Do you have any ideas about how the heavy responsibility we bear as parents can motivate us toward better things? Share it below!
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Hello, Carey. I was reading this this morning in my email. I just wanted to stop by and say, Amen, brother! The best way to guard our children from going astray is to live a truly godly life ourselves and the only way to do that is to spend much time in God’s Word and prayer — and lean wholly on Him.
I always say our children are not only mirrors — they are magnifying mirrors. What we are will largely be reproduced in our children, and often in a more obvious way.
May He bless our efforts abundantly; and may His name be glorified through our children!
@Sheila Edeliant Hi Sheila… thanks for the “Amen.” I can’t tell you how often I seek the LORD’s great help in being consistent in my own walk so that my children see that the LORD is real in me and in my life. He deserves to be represented well!