My devotional today especially hit me in the Parenting Department. The text was from 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
We can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to produce “successful” kids, and there is no question that parenting requires a lot of hard work. But, what exactly is our role in the process? In this passage, Paul explains the role of a teacher. We believe it applies just as well to a family.
Parents are God’s representatives in the family, and that role is crucially important. In the end, however, we have to surrender the results to God because He is the One “who causes the growth.” He will grow our children into His design. While it is difficult to let go of our design and surrender our kids to God, it is God’s will that they grow less and less dependent on us and more dependent on Him.
You cannot force your child to grow up to be a godly person, but you can be a godly parent. Use your children’s experiences, your example and gentle exploration to “plant and water” your kids, and surrender the results to God.
This explains my heart of hearts even as I see for myself wayward children who were built aright by their parents. The challenge really is to ultimately surrender my child’s future unto God’s hand as we stop at nothing as we pray for him to be the person God has purposed for him to be.
