Parental Pressure

I still felt that their behaviour reflected upon me

1 Chronicles 7:1-40

Reference: All these were descendants of Asher—heads of families, choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders. The number of men ready for battle, as listed in their genealogy, was 26,000. (1 Chronicles 7:40 NIV)

Explore: I never understood the pressure on parents until I became one! We started our parenting journey a little differently to others, caring for a teenager and then moving to fostering young children.

Even though we were not the main influence over the children’s lives in their early years, I still felt that their behaviour reflected upon me. If my daughter said something tactless, I felt guilty that we had not taught her better social skills; if my son bullied a younger child, I worried that we had not modelled better behaviour.

I have learned to have thicker skin and understand that, while parenting is important, even young children make their own decisions. Our parenting can help guide and direct them, and then you just stand back, and hope and pray they will make the right decisions when the time comes.

I now take every opportunity to congratulate parents on their children. Whenever I notice any good choice or redeeming feature I will make mention of it to their parents, even if they’re strangers in the park! A parent can never receive too much encouragement!

Application: Asher must have been very impressed with his children, their children and their children’s children. They were said to be “choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders.” They were all responsible for their own decisions, but it seems that he gave them a strong foundation to build from.

If we are reflecting on our own parenting, we need to be realistic. No one is perfect in how we deal with our little ones, but we can do our best to build a firm foundation for them.

Prayer: Lord, You are the perfect parent, and yet, we still rebel from You. May we be committed to our children’s upbringing, but trust that they are safely in Your hands. Amen.

What characteristics are you aiming to instil in the children in your life?

1 Chronicles, children, discipline, expectations, family, foundation, parenting