Filling Your Child’s Spiritual Needs Sometimes Hurts

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As a mother, I have made a few rough calls. I have cried in despair when I was uncertain I was actually making the right call. I have felt sick to my stomach when I had to deliver heartbreaking realisations to my children. I have even walked away from relationships I never thought I would have to leave because they were not best for my children. I have spent many long hours investing into my children spiritually, academically and emotionally. If I were to be asked if I regret these things I would reply every single time no, my children, all four of them are my ultimate ministry. Spiritually they are mine and my husband’s responsibility. Sometimes I have to admit filling our children’s spiritual needs just plan hurts.

In order to be a great spiritual leader to our children, we must be willing to evaluate what they need not only from us but from our church and their peers. Sometimes when we start looking at things from that light we begin noticing things that we need to change. Those changes can actually lead to pain within our hearts as we further dig and notice that we have ignored the spiritual need for a long time because we ourselves are comfortable.

 

There are other times that we notice that spiritually we have to share our heart-wrenching past with our children. Remembering painful, sinful and often times shameful things also hurts us deeply. However- we owe it to our children to be honest about who we once were so that they can also see what God has done in our lives. So that they can learn that no matter what God loves them and that our past does not define our futures in Christ.

 

Then there are those moments that while trying to be a strong spiritual leader to our children that we, in fact, discover even more flaws within ourselves. I have learned that our children are mirrors of ourselves. It is almost as if God gave them the same traits to remind us of the very things that we need to work on spiritually. This is painful to know how frustrating these actions are to us and then to be faced with the truth that it is even more so painful to God.

 

How Do We Feed Our Children Spiritually Through the Pain?

1. We need to remain in open-hearted prayer for our children.Allow our children to actually hear us praying for them as well. Not only do we need to have communication with God but our children also know that we lay our concerns at God’s feet.
2. We need to actually be real with our children. Our children need to know that we are real people. That we in fact make mistakes. It is from those mistakes that we grow and we becoming stronger in our faith and we strengthen our testimony. Too many times we try to shield our children from our wrong doings, but we need to be open and honest.
3. We need to make sure that our children are being spiritually fed in our place of worship. They need to be in an alive church. One with an amazing youth program and with actual areas that they can serve. They need a church that they feel comfortable in and that they are not merely there, but they are in fact members of something great.
4. We need to remind ourselves that our children are spiritually growing just as we are. We will both make mistakes, but there is growth even in those less than great moments.

Being our children’s spiritual leader is hard. There are times that we want to run and hide. The fact of the matter is that we need to be on guard and we need to be prayerfully ready. We can do this. God gave our children to us and He will see us through this season.

 

Until Next Time Just Keep Soaring 4 Him,

 

I would like to invite you to my Facebook group Christian Homemakers in Training where we dive into homemaking, motherhood, marriage and group devotions. After all, we all need a safe place to grow together, right?

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