Your flesh tempts you to think love is something that is designed to make you happy, to make you feel good. Yes, it is wonderful when others love us. But you must not live live for those moments. Biblically, love is dying to what you want and living for what brings honor to God. In love, Jesus did not keep his life, but gave it up for you. Paul tells us three things that are not love.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.
Love is not proud.
I Corinthians 13:4
Envy has a particularly nasty twist with regard to parenting. Envy causes you to crave things that you think will make you happy. You listen to the lustful call of envy and think that you would have an easier life if you kids were more like somebody else’s kids. Envy is about you. Envy breeds discontent.
Pride, at it’s core, is doing what you want to do instead of what God wants you to do. Pride encourages you to seek the approval of people. When you seek the approval of others to verify your parenting you are living for their praise. Boasting will follow.
Envy, boasting, and pride. They will keep you from loving your children. They will keep you from dependence upon the Spirit and his word. They are all about you.