What Does It Mean to Parent with Humility?

---

---

God has called mothers to do many things. We are a chef, a chauffeur, a referee, etc. It seems like we are always going and doing what needs to be done. It can be easy for us to become discouraged and exhausted through all of the work we must do. So, how can we be humble through the endless tasks of motherhood?

How can we be humble when we are so overwhelmed?

Today, I want to share with you a few ways that you can commit to parenting with humility.

1) Practice being gentle and patient.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” -Ephesians 4:2

Think about the kind of gentleness you have when your baby is first born. You spend hours giving that sweet baby your attention. You feed her without complaining that she needs to fed again. You talk to her in silly voices while making eye contact with her bright eyes. You haven’t slept in weeks but you continue to be patient with her because she needs you.

What if we displayed this gentleness with our three-year-old or our five-year-old? My point is that we should show love and gentleness to our children no matter their age. They will always need our attention in some way or another. They need us to gently remind them to do what is right when they face temptations. They need us to love them even when they do something wrong.

2) Commit to serving your family with love.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” -Philippians 2:3

When we set aside our own selfishness and find joy from serving our family, we are practicing humility. This can be difficult. Epecially if you are a planner like myself. Many days and nights I will have a plan for what I would like to get done or do for myself each day. It can be difficult when a teething baby or a curious toddler interrupts my plans.

I’ve learned that I must always put my children and my husband before the task that I “need” to do. God didn’t call me to serve myself. He called me to honor Him through serving my family.

When you feel tempted to complain about the spilled milk or your five year old’s attitude, view it as a task. A task that needs your attention. As a parent, you will learn from your daily experience how to be a good parent and a role model to your child. There are some parenting blogs that can help you.

3) Receive God’s grace and surrender to Him.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14

When we are quiet in the moment and serve our family with diligence, we are surrendering our lives to Christ. We are acknowledging that we need God in our motherhood. We are noticing that we can’t do it alone, we need help. The good news is God hasn’t created us to do it all and we must rest knowing that only He is able to do certain things.

Humility must first come with our relationship with Christ before we can apply it to our parenting. When we run to God and ask Him to make us new, He gives us the strength we will never have aside from Him. When we acknowledge that we are more than a mom and that we are a follower of Christ, characteristics like humility will become more noticeable in our everyday life.

I encourage you all to write out these verses that I have shared and tape them to your fridge so that you can be reminded of the blessing that comes from parenting with humility.

How has God shown you the power of humility through your parenting?

For more resources on parenting with humility, check out my blog!

New to this community? Start here, friend.