Parenting: Getting It RightSample

DEVOTIONAL

Today’s Bible reading is a description of how family members can live together and have healthy relationships. These relationships are marked by submission to one another (v. 21). The wife submits to her husband as she does the Lord (v. 22). At the same time, the husband gives himself up for his wife as Christ did for the church (v. 25). Children are to obey and honor their parents (6:1-2). And then the apostle Paul reminds parents not to “exasperate your children” (6:4). Any parent could easily lord power over a child at every turn. But instead, parents must lay down (or submit) at least some of that power as part of healthy parenting.

This understanding of how family members submit to one another is crucial for healthy relationships. Fathers and mothers who withhold power for the good of their children (no exasperation) demonstrate mercy and promote growth and independence. Likewise, when spouses sacrifice or submit their own desires for the other’s, they show children that living selflessly fosters love and commitment. These lessons will help children grow into adults who are merciful, selfless, and independent.

The culture into which Paul first wrote the letter of Ephesians placed all of the social and economic power in the hands of men alone. The fact that Paul even addressed relationships with wives and children was countercultural. But that’s often how God works, in countercultural ways.

So, let the words of Ephesians 5:21-6:4 speak to your heart today. You serve a God who has countercultural wisdom for families. Your relationship with your kids is unique and special. Let Christ-like submission mark these relationships and show your children the way of God’s sacrificial love.

REFLECTION

Was there a sense of submission in the home you grew up in? Was it a positive force or a negative force?

How can you show your kids the sacrificial love of Christ? How can you demonstrate this sacrificial love to others—your spouse, or friends, or parents—so that they can see this love in action in your life?

What can you do this week to strengthen your relationship with your kids, while maintaining the unique differences in the relationship?

PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for the different relationship between me and my children. Help me to wisely and lovingly maintain the difference, for your glory and for the good of the kids. Help me to navigate each stage with them and to demonstrate a life of sacrificial love. Thank you for your countercultural wisdom. Amen.