Spiritual Disciplines for ParentsSample

Day 1

Raising kids is not for the faint of heart.(We know, that’s an understatement.)

It’s constant. It requires coaching and correcting. Early mornings and late nights. Disciplining and directing. But that’s not even the hardest part — the most difficult part of parenting is doing all of that while we’re still a work in progress. (Hi. We see you. We ARE you.)

We’re trying to raise kids to become the person God created them to be while simultaneously trying to bridge the gap between who we are and who we’re called to be.

Bridging that gap is a process, and that process has a name. It’s called discipleship.

When Jesus invited His original disciples to follow Him, this is exactly what He was inviting them to do: to bridge the gap between who they were and who they were created to be. He was inviting them to become the best versions of themselves through a relationship with Him, and He’s still extending that same invitation to us today.

However, it’s impossible to follow Jesus without daily disciplines, specifically spiritual disciplines. We actually get the word “discipline” from the same root word as “disciple” — because following Jesus requires training. And training is tough, which is why most of us don’t love it.

But we DO love the results found on the other side of discipline and training. We love endorphins from a workout, but we don’t like the sound of our alarm going off at 5:00AM. We love nailing a presentation at work, but we don’t like spending days preparing for it.

Hebrews 12:11 (NIRV) says, “No training seems pleasant at the time. In fact, it seems painful. But later on it produces a harvest of godliness and peace. It does this for those who have been trained by it.”

We will never become the parent (or person) God created us to be by accident. We are formed into the image of Jesus through many daily — and often tiny — disciplines.

Maybe reading this is stressing you out because you’re not where you want to be in your own walk with Jesus. You feel like you’re behind in your growth, so you’re wondering how you can help your kids with theirs. Don’t be defeated by that lie. Start small, start where you are, and remember that sometimes the best way to learn is to teach as you go.

We’ll spend the next few days talking about some daily disciplines that can have an eternal impact on your family’s life, but before we dive into that, take a few minutes today to think about your current habits. Write down some things you choose to do every day, and then think about what those things are doing to you. Are they bringing you peace or causing anxiety? Are they breeding contentment or competition? Ask God to give you wisdom to break the habits that are breaking you and build habits that lead to the future He wants for you!