Mom Heart Moments #336

Just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES when it comes to the various personalities and tendencies we may encounter in our children. Extroverts need to talk more and have lots of activities and people in their lives; introverts need more time alone to ponder, create, and go into their inner sanctum to be refreshed.

Some children just really want affirmation and hugs and listening so they will feel loved. Others want you to do something with them —to be active alongside you. Others want sympathy, and to have you understand all that’s on their hearts. Still others thrive on quality time.

We are to accept and cooperate with our children’s God-given personalities because God has a work for them to do in this world that matches their personality and gifting. If we want to be God’s instrument to open their hearts, we have to study who they are and reach each one according to the personal design of his or her heart.

Children and adults are not cookie-cutter copies of each other who can all be handled the same way. Human beings are complex and cannot be generalized into formulaic solutions; they long to be loved and valued as they are.

We must live in the tension between respecting the unique design that our artistic Creator crafted into the DNA of our children and building a bridge of love to their hearts so they will be more willing to listen to the messages we live and speak. We are invited into a relationship with the living God, which is a pattern for how we live with our children. He is wild and wise and loving and deeply desirous of our personal, passionate love.

How can you reach out to the people in your life and show them you appreciate their individuality today?