Perfect people are like unicorns—they don't exist. That being said we can say that perfect parents don't exist either because, well, parents are people, aren't they? But one thing is for sure: We serve a God who is perfect and who perfects us with the power of His Spirit and by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Many Christian parents today are always on the lookout for the latest parenting philosophy, practice or strategy that will help them raise better kids. And that's a wonderful thing! If you're the kind of parent who does that, then I hope God blesses you with more knowledge and opportunity to become the parent that God has called you to be.
However, let us hope that in our pursuit of the best parenting styles and practices we will ever get parenting completely right. Why? Because if that's your stance coming into this, I can tell you as early as now that you're never going to meet your own expectations.
We want to be great parents and God wants us to be great parents. That's why He gives us the Bible to teach us all the wonderful instructions it contains on life, including parenting. That is also why He enables us through the Holy Spirit to be empowered to become more patient, loving, wise, gentle and effective parents.
But God doesn't expect any of us to be perfect parents. He may have originally designed us to be, but reality is that we are fallen beings that need God's grace more than ever.
The wonderful thing about God is that He makes that grace available to us. That's right. Not only is grace a way for us to be freed from our sin and shame, but it is also the ability given to us to become better parents and to experience reconciliation with our children when we fail at some point.
God wants to teach us as parents to always rely on His grace first and foremost, not on our expertise and parenting skills.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT version) tells us, "Each time He said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."
As parents, I hope that we do the best we can to discipline, nurture, raise, love and serve our children well. But the times we fall short are the times that we can see proof that God is indeed faithful even when we are not.
Are we ever going to get parenting right? We can try our best, but we most likely will not because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
However, in our weakness, Jesus is magnified. And even when we fail to be perfect parents to our kids, our Heavenly Father will never fail.
