Parenting with Purpose: Let Love Lead - Living Free - August 28
Parenting with Purpose: Let Love Lead
Living Free Every Day®
A ministry of LivingFree.org
Scripture
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV
Thoughts for the Day
There may be no more challenging place to live out these words than inside our own homes.
It is easy to talk about patience until a child tests our patience. It is easy to speak about kindness until we are exhausted. It is easy to say we forgive until the same problem happens again.
Yet Paul describes love not primarily as an emotion but as a way of responding. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love protects. Love perseveres.
These qualities belong at the center of godly parenting.
Love does not mean children never experience correction or consequences. In fact, loving parents provide guidance and boundaries because they want what is best for their children. But the motivation underneath that correction matters.
Are we disciplining because we want to teach, or because we are angry? Are we correcting behavior while still communicating love? Are we keeping a record of every past failure, or allowing our children the opportunity to grow?
There will be many parenting methods, strategies, and opinions. Some will be helpful and some will not. But the foundation underneath everything must remain love.
Years from now, our children may not remember every rule we established or every lesson we tried to teach. But we want them to remember that even in correction, difficulty, and disappointment, they were deeply loved.
Consider This . . .
Read the description of love again slowly and consider it through the lens of your parenting. Which quality comes naturally to you, and which one is most difficult? Perhaps God is asking you to become more patient, respond more kindly, release a record of past wrongs, or persevere through a difficult season with your child. Rather than trying to change everything at once, choose one characteristic of biblical love to intentionally practice today. Ask God to make His love increasingly visible through the way you parent.
Prayer
Lord, teach us to love our children with the kind of love Your Word describes. Give us patience when we are frustrated, kindness when we are tired, and perseverance when parenting is difficult. May everything we do as parents be rooted in Your love.
In Jesus’ name…
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