It was John Trainer who said, “the children are not a distraction from the work; the children are the work.” Paul says it like this: “and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (Titus 2:4-5). And sometimes, in the hustle of everyday life, I forget this important truth. I am commanded to love my husband and children. It seems a simple thing to say, yet it is a steep command to love biblically.
Indeed, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Love demands my energy and intention, two things I am inevitably short of in day-to-day life. Am I even aware of what silently drains my energy, keeping me from loving as I should?
Social media, texting and anything else on my device is often a distraction and a drain from this vital work of love. If I have spent my emotional bandwidth in the digital universe, how can I be present with my family or wise in the training of children?
A cluttered schedule drains both me and the children who must go along for the ride. My schedule does not affect me alone. This thought should sober me to consider what is truly needed to seek first God’s kingdom with my children. Some things may be good but simply for a different, later season.
The buying and organizing of stuff and the yearning for more and better is a siren call of the world and seldom an impulse from God. Paul reminds us in two places of this:
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ~ 1 Timothy 6:8
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. ~ Philippians 4:12-13
The daily grind of training souls and loving my family is consuming if I mean to do it well. It demands a drastic amount of emotional energy to endure and to be intentional, to choose and not simply react.
How will I teach them to love God? How will I teach them to love others? How will I show them what it means to be patient, kind, and loving?
This task should and does drive us mothers to our knees, even when our children are old. We must not be afraid to lift up our habits, our schedule, and our heart to God in prayer. Let him direct you. Submit to his yoke. Often our problem is not that we don’t know what should happen but rather having the courage to carry it out, to lean on God’s approval and sometimes disappoint the people around us.
Don’t forget. God knew exactly what your children and husband would be like and what these precious souls would need.
And he gave them you.
Such a Father will not abandon us in the work of love. But first, we must surrender to him, learning to say no to all else and choose the better things, in order to do well what he has placed in our hands.
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” ~ Luke 10:41-42
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD! ~ Psalm 31:24
Photo by guille pozzi on Unsplash
Wattsup With Kids 