cornerstone church
  • Home
  • About
    • Pastor
    • Elders
    • Deacons
    • Director of Women's Ministry
    • Membership >
      • Membership Covenant
    • Statement of Faith
    • Contact
  • Adult
    • Women's Ministries
    • Men's Ministries
  • Youth
    • Children's Ministries
    • Teen's Ministries
  • Missions
  • Resources
    • Bible Reading Plan
    • Calendar of Events
  • Sermons
  • Blogs
    • Blogs By Pastor Jeff Owen
    • enCOURAGEment for Women
BLOGS

enCOURAGEment for women

The Weight on a Mother's Shoulders

8/22/2014

 
I have had the opportunity to talk to several mothers one on one lately and in each conversation there seemed to be a common thread.  It had to do with feeling the weight of responsibility for their children.  Whether it be in their child’s decisions, actions or even appearances.  One mother worried about how her actions today would affect her young children in years to come, another mother worried that her children were gaining too much weight and how that would reflect on her parenting, and still another mother worried about the decisions that her adult son was making and how it would affect his future.

As each of these mothers shared with me, I could feel the burden they were carrying; it was heavy.  I understand this burden well; I have carried it many times myself.  Mothers of all ages and stages feel this burden no matter how old their children are.  We feel responsible for how our children behave, how they respond to others, and how they perform in life.  We take the full credit when they do good and even more so when they do poorly. 

Mothers, my advice to you today… lay the burden down.  It is not yours to carry.  Oh yes, we need to “Train up a child in the way he should go” as it says in Proverbs 22:6.  And “… do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” as in Ephesians 6:4.  Absolutely, God has given us the responsibility of raising these specific children.  He has put them under our charge and into our care.  That is a great responsibility that we need to take very seriously.  However, the RESULTS are not on our shoulders.  The results are God’s alone. 

God has a specific plan and path through life for your child to follow.  Jeremiah 29:11, “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.”  No one can change God’s plans or put their child on what we feel to be a more “appropriate” path to follow (or a more socially acceptable one).  Remember God has already written out your child’s entire life for eternity and he knows what is truly best for your child.  Plus, (brace yourself for this one)…God loves your child MORE than you do (see Romans 5:8 and 8:38-39).  I remind my children of this often.  Do you think that this would confuse them or worry them?  No way, they know how much I love them and for them to know that the Almighty Creator loves them even more – how awesome!   It is wonderful that they (and we) can rest in the assurance that God loves them and is in charge of their everyday life and their futures.

To assume that we are to take the credit when our children excel or the blame when our children experience a failure is putting ourselves in the place of God in their lives.  That is not where we are supposed to be, he alone can be King.  We can teach them to eat healthy and engage in physical activities with them, but God determines their body type and what he wants them to look like.  We can set boundaries and provide godly discipline as they grow, but we are not responsible for every bad (or good) decision they make when they are grown.

I realize that it is no easy task to let go of this burden of how our children “turn out”.  We cling to it like it is a part of who we are, but it’s not meant to be that way.  So take a deep breath and release it to God.  Take reassurance that God welcomes your burdens and instructs us to give them to him:

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalms 55:22

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

Keep your focus on raising your children to love Christ and his powerful Word.  Guide them with godly discipline and train them up in the way they should go, but understand, their final destination and how they get there is up to God. 


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Adversity
    Anger
    Assurance
    Beauty
    Bible Study
    Biblical Womenhood
    Body Of Christ
    Children
    Christ Likeness
    Christ-Likeness
    Christmas
    Church
    Contentment
    Covenant
    Creation
    Death
    Depression
    Discipleship
    Easter
    Encouragement
    Endurance
    Evangelism
    Faith
    Forgiveness
    Giving
    Glory
    Gospel
    Happy
    Heaven
    Hell
    Holy
    Holy Spirit
    Homeschooling
    Hope
    Husband
    Jesus
    Joy
    Knowledge
    Love
    Marriage
    Missions
    Modesty
    Money
    Mother
    Obedience
    Prayer
    Preaching
    Purpose
    Relationship
    Resurrection
    Risk Taking
    Sanctification
    Satan
    Satisfaction
    Sin
    Singleness
    Sovereignty
    Spiritual Gifts
    Sufferring
    Thankful
    The Word Of God
    Time
    Treasure
    Trials
    Trust
    Wife
    Wives
    Worship

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • Pastor
    • Elders
    • Deacons
    • Director of Women's Ministry
    • Membership >
      • Membership Covenant
    • Statement of Faith
    • Contact
  • Adult
    • Women's Ministries
    • Men's Ministries
  • Youth
    • Children's Ministries
    • Teen's Ministries
  • Missions
  • Resources
    • Bible Reading Plan
    • Calendar of Events
  • Sermons
  • Blogs
    • Blogs By Pastor Jeff Owen
    • enCOURAGEment for Women