We as moms wear so many different hats! I recently read that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the market value of the work of a mom is worth $60,182. We cook, clean, taxi, nurse minor wounds, change diapers, educate, manage household finances, and much more. Sometimes in the midst of all these tasks we just get tired!
In all of our demanding jobs and our sleep deprived exhaustion, let us not lose vision for the most important job of being a mom: raising our children to be lovers of Jesus.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Psalm 127:4
Having vision to raise children who will be counted among the righteous is so vital as a Christian mom. Yet there is so much clamoring for our attention in the name of raising well-adjusted and successful children, that the most important thing gets pushed to the bottom of the pile. Already feeling defeated and insecure in our parenting efforts that just can’t keep up, we console ourselves that we will spend the time teaching them about the Lord tomorrow. The reality is we will always be pushing it back unless we have a clear plan and focus to make it the priority in our parenting.
Here are three simple ways to make raising godly children a priority in the midst of the chaos of life:
- Read the Bible together, taking time to talk about what it means. Memorize the Word as a family. (Psalm 119:11)
- Have a regular family worship time where you sing, dance, and take time to adore Jesus together.
- Pray every day for your children to be faithful lovers of Jesus and found righteous and blameless on the day of His return.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:9-11
Remember to take the time to cultivate your own love relationship with your Savior in the midst of the busyness of being a mom. Don’t wait until the kids are older and it is more convenient. They are watching you and when they see you genuinely in love with the Lord, it is hard for them to not want it too!
Let’s rearrange our schedules, if we have to, to make the main thing the main thing: presenting to Jesus children who are righteous and sincere lovers when we stand before Him. Of all we do as moms, this is our highest calling.
In what ways are you walking out the vision of raising children who love Jesus? What is working? What are areas you want to grow in?
Charis (Ka-reese) is a 32 year old mom to 5 boys and wife of 10 years to her best friend Bill. They are a full-time intercessory missionary family giving themselves to oversee The Watch House of Prayer in Redding, Ca. She is involved in raising up godly children, pastoring, leading worship and encouraging people in growing in a life of prayer and pursuit of loving God as the “One Thing” (Psalm 27). She writes regularly at her blog, At the Gate Called Beautiful, where she shares her journeys and encourages other believers to grow in faith together.
