Over the past two weeks I’ve had a few crystalized moments of beaming joy that brought tears to my eyes. Camp counselors honored my kids by pointing out some really awesome, God-honoring traits in their young hearts, and I’ll admit: I caught myself thinking “Praise God. What we’re doing at home is working.”
{a-hem!} — What we’re doing?
I stopped myself.
And I thought about I Corinthians 3:7:
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
Isn’t it incredible that the Lord invites us to participate in the shaping of our kids by asking us to be gardeners? That in his love he opens our eyes to opportunities to plant and water the seeds of faith in our children?
Equally incredible, however, is that according to Paul, we aren’t anything! – that it is GOD who makes seeds sprout and grow. Yes, he uses us to put the seeds in the soil and dedicate our time to regular watering, but in the end, it is God.
photo courtesy of my daughter
The Danger of Thinking We Make Things Grow
I recently overheard a conversation with a middle-aged woman who was freely doling out parenting advice to a clearly flustered younger parent. The woman’s “why don’t you just this” and “you should really just that” was followed by unrestrained anger when the parent choose to act otherwise.
Her actions revealed her heart: she was convinced that while parenting, she was in charge of growth. Her parenting was correct. After all, just look at how great her kids turned out! What could this younger be thinking(?!) to not obey her?
It became so clear to me that while we are partners with God in parenting, it is only by his grace that he turns the hearts of our children toward himself. We fool ourselves if we think we can assume full responsibility for their success.
If we allow Satan to convince us that our efforts alone create great kids and stellar citizens, we have scales on our eyes. If we are quick to take all the credit for our little cherubs, we forget Paul’s words and risk allowing pride to dominate our parenting.
Encouragement while you garden
Certainly I’m not advocating we toss rules to the wind and let our kids run willy-nilly through the streets in the name of ”letting God work.” But let’s keep our feet firmly planted in the realization that our efforts are blessed by a loving God who offers to partner with us.
- Practice gratitude when you see fruit in your kids. Be quick to thank God for his faithfulness in that area.
- Pray for God to help you tend to your gardens, both planting seeds and pulling weeds
- Pray for compassion, patience, and diligence when parenting is difficult.
