Learning To Let Go

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Proverbs 22:6

FROM THE MOMENT OUR children are born, our job as parents is to prepare them to function in a broken world without us. This is no doubt one of the toughest challenges we will ever face. Headlines from newspapers all over our country are daily reminders that the world in which we live is a dangerous and scary place. As fathers, it is natural for us to want to shield and protect our children from harm and to make their way as easy as we possibly can.

But if we’re not careful, these natural instincts, fueled by our own fears and insecurities, can cause us to be overprotective and to over-parent, thus handicapping our children. When we lose the perspective that God is ultimately in control, our fears take over, and we attempt to be everything for our children, including their savior. As a result, many kids today are growing up without the life skills necessary to make good decisions and take care of themselves.

Parenting, like everything else in our lives, is a walk of faith. And thank God that it is! God has not called us to try to control everything. What a relief. In what ways is God showing you your desperate need for Him through your children? Have you been guilty of making an idol of your children and their future happiness? Take some time to reflect on specific areas you need to release to God as they relate to your children, and then ask God to help you.

BOTTOM LINE

Though we are instrumental and vitally important in the growth and development of our children, how they ultimately turn out is not entirely up to us.

Moment of Strength: 1 John 4:18