If you can’t tell, parenting has been on my mind a lot lately. When you have little ones, or any ones, how could it not be, right? Last week I talked about trying to Pour into my Children. But this week I want to tell you about something I learned in my Precept class on Jeremiah. Never thought I would learn so much about parenting from Jeremiah, but it is so incredible how God meets you where you are, and leads you in only the way He can.
If you haven’t had the pleasure to study Jeremiah, let me give you a quick overview. God is telling Israel what will happen if they continue to disobey, what the consequences will be. Sound familiar in your everyday life?
I think it is so interesting how many people think that the Old Testament is not relevant for us today. Oh, but it is! Jeremiah is a perfect model for us in parenting. God is using Jeremiah to tell the Israelites (His children) what will happen to them, what consequences they will face, if they continue in their disobedience. We do that don’t we? We tell our kids what consequences are coming. But what happens when it is time to follow through?
God follows through with His consequences.
If I got nothing else out of my time in Bible study this week, I learned that I need to be consistent and follow through in my parenting. Children need that. They need to know that we mean what we say.
Another thing I thought a little humorous was how God repeated Himself over and over, but the Israelites never heeded the warning. Again…sound familiar?
I learned something very profound this week. There is no struggle that I go through that the Lord doesn’t understand.
He tells us over and over and over again what the consequences of our disobedience will be, but we in our stubbornness continue to do our own thing. Yet, He still loves us and pursues us and directs us and takes care of us.
I love how God gives us the perfect parenting model. Now…if I will just take note of it!
Parenting Tip
Next time your child has a sour face, or a bad attitude about something, use Scripture to teach him what God says about it. Try using this wonderful verse to point your children to what God calls them to when they have a “face of stone” (a.k.a. bad attitude or a sour face).
God calls them to repent, to ask Him to forgive them for their bad attitude. Use a verse like the one below to show them it is in God’s Living Word.
O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. ~ Jeremiah 5:3
Then, children need to know what to do instead of frowning: Smile! Show them: A cheerful heart does good like medicine (Proverbs 17:22).
thanks for this!! So true!
Parenting has been on my heart soo much since birthing my 4th babe!! Something has clicked and I have been soo challenged!!! Oh, how much God delights in us and how much I want to show my kids a piece of how much God loves them (and how much I adore them as well).
Excellent reflection of everything! It’s a good reminder that our struggles are universal and timeless but that we can work on correcting them NOW.
Mercedes
I so agree about Jeremiah. We read through it a couple of years ago, and honestly, I was dreading it, but it is so relevant. My husband is a youth pastor, and even as a parent, it reminds me of what we go through – “If you obey, God will bless you, if you don’t, there are consequences.” I was really convicted, challenged, and changed by reading it. Thanks for you post!