Gleaning Wisdom from : A Mother’s Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother (Pilgrimage Growth Guide)
I can not raise our four blessings on my own. There are not enough parenting books, blogs, and wise advice from others to provide me with what I need to know. I do not have enough energy, wisdom, or strength to do it.
But, I read in the scriptures how I am to “teach my children” and “train [my children] in the way they should go.” I am to be a Proverbs 31 wife.
Seriously? How do I do all this?
Author Jean Fleming brings out an important point from Deuteronomy 6:6-7.
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
In reading these verses in the past, I have read this, “These commandments that I give you today… impress them on your children.” I skipped over seven important words and the key point.
Jean Fleming states:
God first tells parents, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” Then he say, “Impress them on your children.”
Before He tells us to teach, God tells us to grow.
Do you see the difference?
I can not train, if I do not do. I can not lead, if I don’t follow my Leader. I can not love, if I do not learn how to love as God loves.
It was an ah-ha moment for me because I am realizing that so many of the issues that my children struggle with are the same things that I battle, just on an adult level. Monkey see, monkey do.
How do we place God’s commandments on our hearts?
Be in the Word, prayer time, scripture memorization, accountability. And it all starts in the morning when we lay down our plans for God’s, open our hearts to his teaching, and confess sins that get in the way.
You are not alone in this process. We are in this together as we learn and yield. Not sure where to start? Join our blog series on Daily Devotions. We are learning how to begin our mornings on the correct foot.
One closing point from Jean Fleming, “As parents, what we are makes a greater impact on our children that what we teach.”
God wants us to start with ourselves.
On my own I can not raise our kiddos. But when I am yielded and leaning on my Savior, I can do the impossible.
Were these verses new to you as well?
