Hi everyone,
So it’s been another tough parenting week for me, and maybe some of you more seasoned parents out there will know what I’m going through. I guess my kids are growing up and that attitude starts to creep in. Suddenly they know better than their parents and all the tried and true rules of the past are seen as just oppression and another thing that they would just rather not do.
But while we go through this phase of life, I can’t help but to think of how much I just want what is best for my kids. I can’t help but to think how I’d do pretty much anything for them. And I can’t help but to think how quickly I’d forgive them for all the things they do wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I forget all those things here and there, but I always come back to forgiving them and welcoming them into the family. Of course, they’re my kids, I don’t think (at this point at least) they can do anything that would make me disown them. Instead, I will continue to work at my parenting and trying to find a place where we can live together as a family in relative peace.
Here are the readings for next week:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36
We know what Reformation Sunday is about. We are a reformation church, after all. We know how Martin Luther felt oppressed by the traditions and customs of the church before he had an epiphany on how to understand the gospel. We know how he began to understand God’s grace and mercy in a whole new light. We know how he then set out to reform the church into one that understands the truth of God’s gospel as one that sets us free.
And we might not think that we need to be set free, because we aren’t and have never been slaves to anyone. The thing is, the freedom that Jesus speaks of isn’t a freedom from law or rules or oppressors, but it is freedom from shame, from guilt, and from the fear that we can never be good enough.
For God’s grace and mercy shown to us through love is enough to cover any mistake we make, any wrong that we do, any rule that we inadvertently break, and to always be ready to welcome us home.
I often think that if my kids were to know just how much I love them, our relationship would be different. Not perfect, mind you, but different. In that they would see that they needn’t be afraid of being out of love, for there is nothing they could do to make that happen.
As it is with us and God but on a much grander scale. We needn’t be afraid that we could never measure up, or we won’t say or do the right things, or hang out in the correct circles. Rather, we can be free of all those worries and trust that God will love us, God will accept us and welcome us, God will forgive us again and again.
Truth.
Have a great week, everyone!