Parenting: Getting It RightSample

DEVOTIONAL

Sometimes parenting acts like a mirror. We tend to notice the mirror when we’re at our worst. We get sick of hearing our children fight and end up yelling, “Be quiet!” We get tired of our kids’ selfish behavior and respond by staking out our own territory. “No, you can’t have that. It’s mine.” We grow so frustrated by their misbehavior that we misbehave too, by resorting to fear or shame in order to get the kids in line. “How could you have done that again? If you do that one more time, so help me…”

While trying to teach our kids to live well and be kind to others, our own selfishness, pettiness, or sin gets revealed. Welcome to parenting.

Today’s Bible reading contains the familiar “law of the harvest,” the profound wisdom that you will reap what you sow (v. 7). The application for parenting is obvious. If you yell at your kids to “be quiet!” when they’re fighting, then you’ll reap children who yell in order to get what they want.

But in addition to this wisdom, today’s passage includes a back-and-forth between caring for others, and practicing self-examination. In verse 1, after being told how we should handle someone who is caught in sin— “gently” – readers are then told to “watch yourselves,” too. Then later, in verse 4, readers are told to “test their own actions” before a conversation about pride, carrying your own load, and responsibility (vv. 5-6).

In this passage, Scripture reveals that self-awareness is key to loving others. This may be especially true for parents because of the way parenting can reflect our mistakes back to us. Spend some time today considering the good and bad “seeds” in your own life and what kind of “crop” they will produce in your family. Let the profound wisdom of this passage guide you to “do good to all people” (v. 10) – including your kids and yourself.

REFLECTION

Re-read Galatians 6:1-10 with your kids in mind. Replace the “someone” in verse 1 with “your kids” and continue reading the passage in that way. What does this exercise make you think about parenting?

How have you seen the law of the harvest at work in your family?

What are the good things you want to reap someday when your children are grown? What do you need to do now in order to sow the seeds for that harvest?

PRAYER

Dear Lord, thank you for your patience with me. I’m a flawed and often sinful “farmer” of the “crop” you’ve given me to harvest. Thank you for walking by my side through the challenges of parenting. Please work through me to grow my kids into maturity, for your glory. Thank you for being by my side. Amen.