Redeeming Parenthood

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore and submit no more to a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1

In the ongoing series on a metanarrative that will sustain us as parents, we are at the really good part – redemption. Redemption is the noun for the verb “redeemed.” God redeemed his people Israel from slavery in Egypt; Christ redeems his people from slavery to sin. At the same time, God redeems the broken world through Christ and in some very strange way, through Christ in his followers. Can you see how this changes the focus of our days? Today, the first of several:

1. It saves us from saving. Let’s face it, as parents, we mostly feel incompetent (okay, maybe not you, maybe that’s just me and a lot of my friends who have told me this.) A good 2/3 of the time (maybe I shouldn’t let my kids know this), I don’t really know for certain what course to take. The reality of my broken heart is that I do want them to be happy and for life to be easy. So when it’s not, my first instinct is to rescue and redeem. I want to be their Savior. Even people who don’t believe in Christ the Savior know it’s not a good idea to ‘save’ our children from all unhappiness. The reality is that the work of saving our children is slavery for us. We will exhaust ourselves trying. Christ is the only one who can bring them true and lasting happiness, and that may not look like our picture of it or theirs.

The good news of redemption for me as a mom is that Christ is making me more like him every day, and in that transformation I am more able to wait and trust him with the things I long to control –like my children’s lives. I need to be saved from my saving, among many other things.

Stay tuned for more on how the Story of Redemption in Christ radically transforms our parenting and our children.