"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" ~Eph 6:4~
This verse goes for us mothers, too. Have you seen a change in your child lately? Pray over it, talk to him / her. Don't just turn a blind eye to it, dig into the matter. But be cautious how you approach it. As difficult as it is, you and I are to be the examples of Christ's love to our children. We are to be the physical display of Our Heavenly Father's unfailing love, His never-ending support.
Do our children know we love them unconditionally? Do we speak to them in short, aggravated phrases, or raise our voice often in frustration? Do we separate the mistakes they make from the person God has called them to be in our mind? Do we look at them through the eyes of Jesus? Or do we see them as a check-list, something to just get finished with, to tolerate, or even as a disappointment because they failed to meet the standard? Do we look into their precious eyes everyday, to connect the sweet child within?
If illness or an accident took them home from us today, what would we regret most? Would we have peace that they knew our heart, and the love shared between parent and child? Or would we struggle to remember the last time we even hugged them?
Sometimes we provoke our children when our life doesn't hold up the example we preach to them.
Either way, our children are God's gift to us, our reward. Don't let the devil make you forget that sweet baby that once nuzzled close on your neck, and the bond created over all these years. Take the hard road less traveled. Stay close to your kids. Raise them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward" ~Ps 127:3~
