My very first disciple and now bestest of friends, Sarah.
Seems like lately I have been surrounded by relationships that are filled with stress and tension. Especially moms of toddlers, preteens and teens. "How did you deal with your teens? What did you do with exasperating toddlers and immature 4 year old boys? Etc. Etc. ........
Of course all children are exasperating many times over, as I am sure most parents are so to their children. But, when I think of the way we reached the hearts of our children, it was so much less about formula or teaching our children the right rules than it was living the love of Jesus before them. Relationship and loving your children as God made them and taking the time to invest love, time and beauty into their souls that is the foundation of reaching their hearts--and it is living fully in the grace that He brought.
Jesus--the heart of all that is good--the one who created the universe, and who embodied gentleness and unconditional love. He who walked on water and made meals--He the very center and life of my heart.
We reach our children's hearts when we give them Jesus, in His fullest measure.
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, makng the world more human and more fraternal.”
Today we are discussing the center of discipleship, as moms seek to influence their children to love Him. For today's discussion and a video, please be sure to read the rest of the story at Momheart.org