Grace abounds, love is patient
Being human, we are fallible and sadly our sin often doesn’t stop the first time we repent. We sin daily and, yet, are given grace daily. I can’t tell you how much it helps to remember that fact when it comes to all the frustrating moments we all have with our children.
We have all heard the saying “Don’t cry over spilt milk”, but what about when that milk spills literally every morning, the same way! I get to cry then, right?
While I may sound like a broken record telling my children not to put their milk on the edge of the table, and not to play around when they are eating, I am reminded of my own relationship with God.
How many times have I failed to live up to the standard He has set in His Word? How many times have I asked for His forgiveness for my sin, only to fall yet again? Yet God’s grace abounds, and I am forgiven daily for my shortcomings, just as our children need to be forgiven for theirs.
I’ve heard many people say that God gave them children in order to grow them in their patience and I truly believe this to be the case. God wants us to have the same patience when our children repeatedly make mistakes that he has with love. Love is patient.
So, when you are banging your head against the wall, thinking you are trapped in your favorite scene of Groundhog Day, remember that grace abounds and the love is patient and use those moments of forgiveness as a time of learning and understanding.
And be sure to tell your children about the infinite love and grace found throughout the Bible and how we should strive to show that love and grace to one another.