Mom And Dad

Children who mistreat their father or chase away their motherare an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

Proverbs 19:26

To “mistreat a father.” As I say that term, I think of daughters whose fathers are undeserving of respect or love or forgiveness. Truthfully, they deserve to be mistreated because they mistreated their daughters. Once again, all I can say is, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Fatherhood is both a position and a role. If you have a father who is still alive, even if he was a bad dad, you, as a child of God, are assigned to him. There is a strong possibility that no one else on the face of the earth prays for him or shows true agape love to that man. If he doesn’t deserve it—and many don’t—then it is even more a work of the Spirit of God’s grace within you to enable you to love the unlovable. Jesus told us, “If you just love those who love you, well big deal!”

Let me tell you the real key here. Let God the Father play the role of father to you. Let him father you, fill your cup, affirm you, and encourage you. Then your heart will not be so needy. You will be free and full to love as you were created to love.

Secondly, it is a shameful thing to chase away your mother. Don’t do that either. For some women, their mothers just yank their chains. They can’t stand to be around them. Again, if you are a child of God, that is not an option. You are assigned by God himself to love her. “Love is patient, love is kind . . . love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4, 8, NIV).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Now let’s turn the tables here and be blunt. If you are a mother, don’t make it hard for your kids to love you. Do you micromanage? Do you nag? Are you hard to please? Do you fail to listen to your kids? If they are married, do you criticize their spouses? Don’t nitpick; save your advice for the big issues. Enough said? In other words, be a woman who is easy to love and respect.

One Year Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 8:11–10:19; Romans 8:9-25; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 19:26