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From the very beginning of their time together, Jesus called his disciples to a life apart from the crowd. He called them to great purpose, meaning, promising to make them “fishers of men.” Even before that, He called them into relationship with Himself. He extended the grace of His fellowship, His companionship, His love, His instruction. He was patient, encouraging, loving, forgiving. His relationship with them was built on a foundation of intimate friendship. He gave them the gift of Himself. Then He asked them to pass along that gift to the world.
We see this more clearly as Jesus' relationship with the disciples progressed. He wanted them to be His representatives on earth, to tell everyone the gospel of the kingdom of his Father. But He wanted them to do it through His strength, grace, given in love—not through their own force or legalism.
As mothers, we are called to take this lesson of grace to heart. Like Jesus, we are to draw our children to a life apart from the rest of the crowd. Each of us is designed by God to whisper His words to the hearts of our children so they will feel the call of God in their own lives to become “fishers of men.” Yet, we must always remember that our children will never be perfect. Each of them needs for us, like Jesus, to extend to him or her the gift of constant love, grace, and forgiveness as they grow little by little. And we can only do this by relying continually on the grace of our own relationship with the Lord.
Since the beginning of our ministry, Clay and I have felt a passion to teach, inspire, and encourage parents over the world to understand their biblically significant role, the importance of mentoring their children to know and love Christ. It is the intent of our books, conferences, and podcasts. We could never have done it without the most wonderful team of like-minded people who companion us in this task. Many of our co-workers are spread over the world. Many are in cyberspace and our membership. I am grateful to God for each of you who shares these messages. Today, my national team shares their passion about our message, our commitment, what we have learned along the way. May you be encouraged.
