Welcome back, guys. I’m so happy you’re here!
Today I’d like to explore the sweet, sweet way that the Gospel applies to parenting. I’ve been so encouraged by this, and I hope that you walk away encouraged as well. This is such a great reminder of how we can run to Jesus as we love our kids well.
What is a Theology of Motherhood?
Thomas Aquinus, a 13th-century philosopher and theologian, once said, “Theology is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God.”
I think that’s such a great definition. Theology is something that teaches us our dependence on God, not something that makes us better moms who don’t need Him.
A theology of motherhood teaches us what God thinks about motherhood and how motherhood can reflect God’s character. We also learn how we can run to our Father throughout the good, the bad and the ugly of parenting our own children.
The Importance of the Gospel
We’re really going to lean into the Gospel as we go through this. Because, essentially, the Gospel shows us Who God is. If we don’t understand the Gospel, we won’t understand God. And we won’t be able to introduce God to our children.
If you don’t view the Gospel as your only hope and confident defence, please keep reading. This is crucial.
The Gospel – The Story of the Ages
In the beginning, God created the first family, Adam and Eve. Because God is perfect, just, and holy, he created perfect humans in a perfect world. They lived in a paradise, without ever understanding the emotions of shame, guilt, pain, or death. They interacted with God and with each other in flawless peace.
Even though God had created them, this first man and woman chose to rebel against the King of Creation. Because God is just, he could not simply overlook this act of treason. He judged the first man and woman. As consequences for their actions, their relationship with God, as well as the entire world, was deeply broken.
The Penalty
Adam and Eve immediately experienced a profound shift in the core of their being. Although they would still long for a relationship with God, they would not be able to have one. They, along with their decendents, would have a naturally sinful nature.
The father and mother of all humans had rebelled, and their decendents would never have the strength to pull themselves out from under the curse of death. They would be destined to living without God both in life and death.
But even as God judged the rebels for their treason, he offered a glimmer of hope. From Eve’s children, someone would be able to overcome the new sin nature. From her decendents, a true hero would be able to conquer the overwhelming power of sin, and death.
The Savior
Hanging onto God’s promise, His people waited. For millenium.
And God finally did what he’d promised to do. When the time was right, God humbled Himself and became a man. Actually, he became a baby. He grew inside his mother’s womb and was named Jesus. As God, he never sinned. He was the only human since Adam and Eve’s rebellion who lived a perfect life. As the perfect man, he was the only human ever to not deserve God’s just punishment.
The Sacrifice
Because Jesus didn’t deserve God’s punishment, He took it. He chose to die the death that every human alive, including me, deserves. (And because an innocent Person took the punishment for a guilty humanity, God can declare us free from our guilt. He can restore the relationship that He created us to have with him.)
Although the entire universe mourned as its Creator was slaughtered, Jesus didn’t stay in the grave. Three days after his death, when all hope seemed to be lost, Jesus showed that He truly was stronger than that age-old curse of death. He was raised from the dead. He became the tangible example of what God’s restoration does in our lives.
The Gospel in Your Life
The Gospel is exactly what we’ve just talked about – the story of perfection, rebellion, sacrifice, and restoration.
But the Gospel doesn’t make a difference in your life unless you believe it. Unless you realize that this story is true and it is your only hope, it doesn’t save you. God has paid the ultimate price for you, but if you are depending on anything else, this ultimate sacrifice doesn’t save you.
I can give you all the professional advice that I’ve learned over my years of working as a nurse, but if you leave my site without understanding the Gospel, I’ve failed.
If the Gospel all you take with you today, it’ll make a world of difference in how you live and die. And, of course, how you parent.
Who We Are
Let’s start by thinking through who we are through the perspective of the Gospel.
We were dead in our sins, unable to save ourselves, (Eph. 2:8-9), and all our best efforts were worthless (Is. 64:6). But, because of Jesus’s death on our behalf, that curse from so many thousands of years ago has been lifted.
If we have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we stand before God without guilt or shame. We have been declared children of God (1 John 3:1-2). His will for us is to love Him above everything else (Mark 12:30). We owe Him everything, and we are eternally grateful.
(Disclaimer: I do want to make a clarification here about what I’m going to say next. When I say “sin nature,” I mean the inheritance of the natural inclination to rebel against God. I don’t mean that God judges babies and children for their sin before they are old enough to understand God’s law. I am strictly speaking to how our kids’ sin nature relates to parenting and our interactions with our children.)
Who Our Children Are
This is absolutely heartbreaking to me, but it’s so necessary to understand.
Our kids are born with a sin nature, just like we were.
They don’t have to learn to lie, or steal, or cheat.
Our kids inherit the knowledge and inclination to do so… from us. They are born under that old curse from Adam and Eve (Ps. 51:5). And as soon as they are able to express that sin nature, they do.
It’s so much easier to think of babies and children as “little angels from heaven.” Or, at the least, as morally neutral. It’s so much more comforting to think that “what you put into them is what comes out of them.” (That’s true, to a point. Training does affect behavior. But I’m talking about being inherently sinful).
And yet, we don’t do our kids any favors by expecting anything different from them. Expecting our kids to be good by nature sets us up for failure. We are so disappointed when they lie to us, or try to deceive us.
Treating our kids like they are inherently good will also create a dilemma for them as they grow older. They will unavoidably mess up. If they believe that they are inherently good, they will either frustrate themselves by trying to be perfect, or create their own set of morals (either by legality or lawlessness).
How the Gospel Changes Our Parenting Approach
The Gospel is so crucial to our everyday parenting. It truly changes everything. Because it changes the way we live, it changes our relationships. It changes the way we parent. It enables us to be bravehearted, steady, and loving mothers.
Because we have been born with a sin nature, we can empathize with our children’s failures.
Because we have been ransomed by Jesus’s death, we can point them to Jesus during their brokenness.
And because we run to our Father for help for every day, we can beat down a path for our children to follow.
The Gospel in Everyday Life
In practical life, when my son starts to kick and scream because he doesn’t want to go down for his nap, the Gospel makes a difference.
I’m not surprised that he’s rebelling. It’s as natural to him as breathing. In fact, I can sympathize with him. If God hadn’t pursued me, I would be rebelling in much bigger ways than my son is doing at the moment.
Instead, I’m able to work with him firmly. I want him to learn that rebellion has consequences, because sin has consequences. I want him to understand that I know what he needs (sleep!), and that he can trust me to do what’s best for him.
Ultimately, my goal is to for him to know the painful and wonderful realities of life, the truest truths of the universe:
God is holy.
We are sinful.
We deserve punishment, and there is nothing we can do on our own to work off that debt.
God took the punishment so we didn’t have to.
God wants us to be in a relationship with him.
And so, a little tantrum becomes a puzzle piece in the big picture of my son’s understanding of himself, of God, and of the world.
Credit for the incredible photography in this post goes to Yan Krukau on Pexels.com, Tara Winstead on Pexels.com, Hristo Fidanov on Pexels.com, Tara Winstead on Pexels.com, Allan Mas on Pexels.com, Yan Krukau on Pexels.com, Josh Willink on Pexels.com, and Arzella BEKTAŞ on Pexels.com.