Asking Too Much From Your Children

Instructing a Child's HeartLiving for your children will ruin your life and theirs. If your hopes and dreams are bound to your children, you will be disappointed, perhaps even bitter. If you expect your children to provide the comfort and support that can only come from God you will be deeply hurt. You will set yourself up to be disappointed and crushed when your family fails you. No spouse, no child can provide comfort that can only be found in God. God will have no other gods before him. Your first loyalty must be to God and God alone.

Children who have become the sole objects of their parents’ dreams and aspirations cannot bear that awful weight. This unbalanced child focus is actually a form of relational abandonment. It is not the children who are being cared for, but the self interest of the parents.

Parents, love God, love your spouse, and in love, prepare your children for the dangerous world that is waiting for them. Doing anything other than this will make your love for your children self-serving.  Your children cannot be your salvation. This ugly self-service will ultimately destroy you, your children and your marriage. Attempting to save your life through your children will consume you and them. Do not live for your children. Live for God!

If you cannot love God first, you will not be able to truly love your children. Teach your children, even your toddlers, that they are not the center of your world. God has already claimed that position.

Shepherd Press