Good morning! I have such a great relationship with Joshua! He is such a good boy, he makes being a parent so easy sometimes. This is not to say he doesn’t have his moments, but we all can have our moments! There is one thing that I find the most difficult when it comes to being Josh’s Dad – the balance between allowing him to be himself while influencing him to live in a way that honors God and respects others.
There are times that make me wonder how I am doing. When we go to the store to buy something for Josh and he can’t make up his mind of what he wants or what feels comfortable because he doesn’t want to disappoint me.
We have recently shopped for new shoes for Josh and we do our best to find shoes that are comfortable and fit him properly. Sometimes when they don’t have his size he will try to convince us that another size is fine (meanwhile you can see his foot sliding around in the shoe) and there times he cannot make a decision.
When he is indecisive, it seems to be from not wanting to disappoint us or waste our money. This breaks my heart because I want him to be able to be honest with us without the fear of upsetting me. I obviously do not want him to make a bad decision, but I want him to be honest and authentic; and in the case where he does make a bad choice, I want to help him navigate it in a way that helps him understand why the choice was bad and build confidence within him to make a better choice the next time!
The same is true in our relationship with God. He wants us to ‘fear’ Him but He does not want us to be afraid of Him! The fear I’m talking about is a reverence for Him – A deep respect for who He is and what He has done for us! He has created us uniquely and has a purpose for each one of us. He wants us to be ourselves and He wants us to live for Him, but not out of fear – out of love!
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:3-4
God doesn’t ask us to erase our identity — He asks us to surrender it to Him. When we live authentically in who He made us to be and we point our life toward Him, we become the fullest version of ourself.
Heavenly Father, thank You for making us to be unique. You are not looking for robots, You are offering us purpose and abundant life! Help us to not live in fear, but to be obedient because of love! Thank You for allowing us to be who You created us to be while at the same time making us more like You! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 