Parenting & Imitating

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Ephesians 5:1

Often I believe God designed parenting to be a reminder, or a beacon, showing us how He is a parent to us. God is full of love for us and desires to be with us. He wants our attention. He wants to give us good things. He wants to teach us. He wants us to mature. He wants us to be strong. He wants us to be leaders.

Conversely, we can also look at our children and recognize, as a reminder, what it is like to be a child of God. We want good things from Him. We want esteem and recognition from Him. We don't want discipline from Him, though it is good for us. We want to feel seen and loved by Him. We want Him to be present.

Some of my most touching memories is of my mother sitting in a hospital room with me. She didn't take away my pain, but she rubbed my back. Just seeing her concern for me gave me comfort. I love that God calls the Holy Spirit a Comforter. He provides a way for us to know that He, our Father, is always present, despite what we go through. The Holy Spirit will comfort us and let us feel God's love. He is a present parent!

I also love the thought of how imitating God can give pleasure to God. As a parent, I am so pleased when I see my son doing the things I've taught him. He makes me proud when I see him do the little-big things like, clean up after himself and behave politely and friendly with other people. When he prays and worships God, it stirs up my joy. He's picking up more and more of the things I've taught him and little by little, these things are becoming an integral part of his character. He is my beloved child and he is imitating me, and it is very pleasing! Imagine how much pleasure God is feeling when He sees us, His beloved children, who he sent His only son to die for, imitating Him.

Sometimes we get confused about God's love for us because we've either witnessed or experienced a bad parent-child relationship. Seeing a lack of love in a parent's effort to teach, lead, give, and strengthen a child, muddles what should be a clear picture of what it's like to have a Heavenly Father who loves us. The imperfect parents in our life have confused us about God's perfect love. Even more, the disappointment of God allowing us to live through experiences of having imperfect parents, confuses us about God's love for us. My only answer lies in the fact that people are by nature imperfect. We imperfectly reflect and imitate God. Some of us don't want to imitate Him at all. This thought helps me not to blame God for the misdeeds of parents.

This thought also cautions me to think about whether I am reflecting a clear image of God to my children because I am impacting their perspective of their Heavenly Father. Am I present - truly with them - seeing and hearing them as they go about their day? Am I teaching them good things and blessing them with rewards for learning and listening? Am I discipling them with hands and words that constantly reassures them of my love for them? Am I helping them get stronger in character and wisdom? Most importantly, am I recognizing my own imperfections and shortfalls and pointing my children to God, the One who is truly perfect and never makes a mistake? This is important because I, as a person, will most likely make a mistake in fall short of perfection. I need to tell them this so I don't muddle their perspective of God.

I love this verse in Ephesians. It's a reminder to be like God. It's a reminder that God loves me. It's a reminder of the importance of the legacy we are leaving. God, thank You for Your perfect example and for these reminders.