ROOTED & LIVING IN LOVE

Written by JEANNENE S. for Who’s Teaching the Babies?®

As a parent, my hope and my prayer for our son is probably no different than any other Christian parent. It is that he continues to grow in knowing and loving God; that he knows it is his God that protects and strengthens him; and that he understands God’s ways and His Word and that he clings to them for the rest of his life. I pray that he continually becomes an overcomer—a victorious child of our Mighty God—and represents His love wherever he goes. But maybe unlike other parents, I quite often forget that all of this is only possible by the power of God’s Spirit. Just like me, the “grown-up,” no matter how much my son wants to follow God and no matter how much he is taught about God and His ways, he needs the Holy Spirit to empower him to live this out.

Ephesians 3:16-17 says, “I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith…” All of us, including our children, need to be strengthened and empowered in our spirits by God’s Spirit. So how does this happen? How do we learn to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit to see His empowerment through us, in order to live this life He has for us? Ephesians 3:19 show us, “…and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” When we are rooted and grounded in God’s love, understanding that it is a journey of ever-increasing growth through revelation, we are likewise being empowered and strengthened by His Spirit. So, our strength and power does not come from knowing or doing more good things—although we will know and do more of the things of God. Instead, if we establish ourselves and our children in knowing God’s deep love for us, we will have everything we need to be strengthened, empowered, and to be led by His Spirit into that victorious life He has planned for us! When we know and receive more of His love for us, we are more and more yielded to Him and His power that we need to continue in Him. Even loving Him and those around us requires that we know He first loved us (1 John 4:19). So, how do we as parents shift our focus from simply teaching them what they should do, to helping them to know how much our God loves them?

It begins with us. Just as our children cannot truly love God without first knowing He loves them, we also cannot truly love God or others with His love without receiving this same truth for ourselves. We must spend time receiving and believing God’s unconditional love for us, so that we can give it away. As this love begins to establish in our hearts, we will be empowered by the Holy Spirit as parents to then love our children with that same, unconditional love. We will move from simply telling them what they should do, to showing them who God is through His unconditional love. Whether or not their behavior (and let’s face it—even our behavior and responses) is surrendered to His Spirit and His ways, we can love them unconditionally as we lead them through it (and even receive this ourselves). As this unconditional love of God begins to take root in our own hearts, in our children’s hearts, and in our homes, there will be a transformation empowered by the Holy Spirit, and a true love and joy for His ways. That very power of God that makes this life possible beyond our imaginations is at work in us at this very moment, and its roots are found in knowing how much we are deeply loved.

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to Him be the glory…”(Ephesians 3:20-21)

For help in solidifying the love and truth of God in the hearts of your children, check out these Identity Statement Flash Cards from our store, because His unconditional love and our identities in Him are inseparable.

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