methods<\/em> to mandate your parental decisions.<\/p>\nA principle would be that you feed your baby.<\/p>\n
A method would be how you feed your baby: breast milk, goat milk, formula, a combination of all three, or whatever.<\/p>\n
Methods are fine, and even helpful. What isn\u2019t fine or helpful is mistaking a method for a principle. This produces the Mommy Guilt that every mom has probably felt at one time or another. Mommy Guilt says that because you don\u2019t practice a certain method, you are a sinner, or at least not living up to your mommy potential in some way. When in reality, the only way you can sin in the feeding scenario I\u2019ve laid out is to not feed your baby at all.<\/p>\n
The method is not overly important. The principle is of utmost importance. What<\/em><\/strong> you feed your baby is a method that is flexible. That<\/em><\/strong> you feed your baby is a principle that is not flexible.<\/p>\nThere are plenty of other scenarios we could talk about: whether to induce or labor naturally, whether to have a home birth or hospital birth, whether to \u201cbe reasonable\u201d (at least in the eyes of our culture) and only have two babies or take the attitude that children are cheaper by the dozen. Or how about later down the road, when the decision must be made to either homeschool or enroll your kids in public or private school? The list is endless. Parenting is an ongoing exercise in decision making that takes knowledge and wisdom. So I\u2019m not discouraging anyone from researching methods. What I\u2019m discouraging is depending on those methods for some type of justification.<\/p>\n
As concerned and caring moms, it\u2019s easy to let our methods morph into principles. I personally feel very strongly about several parenting methods. I used to be very passionate about the choice of milk I used for my babies. But it\u2019s important to keep the main thing the main thing. And our choice of principles, not methods, are always the main thing in determining whether we are being good, godly moms.\u00a0And the Good News? Even if we fail at being a good, godly mom (and we will!), there\u2019s forgiveness. Being a good and godly\u00a0mom does not justify us in the eyes of God. No good work of ours can do that. Only Christ\u2019s work on the cross can give the gift of perfect justification. So if you mess up? Say you\u2019re sorry to God. Apologize to your child, if it\u2019s age appropriate. Then accept the forgiveness that is yours and move on.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/em>Proverbs 22:6 lays out a Biblical principle for us:<\/p>\nTrain up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nNotice there isn\u2019t a method stated in that verse, because methods fall under the category of Christian liberty. Moms are free to choose all sorts of methods without the fear of being a parenting failure. Train up a child in the way he should go? What way should he go? The way of Christ-likeness. The biggest target to shoot for is that: training up a child to first accept Christ, and then to walk in the newness of life and be like Christ. The methods of motherhood are at some level important, but none of them are the main thing.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nMoms, justification as a good parent (or anything) does not depend on any method. Perfect justification, which is yours through Christ Jesus, cannot be taken away. Not even by committing a major parenting fail. So take it easy. Relax. And love your child by following Biblical principles for parenting, and pointing that child to Christ every day. If you are in Christ, you are justified, being sanctified, and will one day be glorified. Rejoice in that and go do something wild, like kick the cloth diapers to the curb (once they\u2019re washed, of course), and pamper yourself by purchasing a case or two of Pampers.<\/p>\n
Moms who are friends or acquaintances of other moms, consider going easy on your peers. Discussing methods is awesome, but it\u2019s easy to make those you\u2019re trying to influence feel about as high as a shredded kite on a windless day. Especially if they don\u2019t share your passion about your method, or simply can\u2019t, for whatever reason, adopt your method. Your mom friends need to be lifted up, spiritually. They need to be encouraged to train up their child Biblically, because while they\u2019re concerned about and interested in methods, their biggest concern is whether their child will grow up to love the Lord \u2013 or at least it should be. And frankly, diapering, types of feedings, and other methods are trivial compared to the goal of\u00a0training up a child in the way he should go.<\/p>\n
As we grow in grace, may we all learn to discern the difference between principles and methods, relax, and keep the peace when our friends\u2019 methods are not our own.<\/em> ~Nancy Wilson, in The Fruit of Her Hands<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this age, when so much information is available at the touch of a screen, it’s easy to find good ideas, methods, and tips on motherhood. It’s also easy to develop an unnecessary, unhealthy case of introspection that leads to false guilt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[117,123,115,122,116,121,118,114,124,119,120],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-breastfeeding","tag-child-rearing","tag-false-guilt","tag-forgiveness","tag-introspection","tag-justification","tag-methods","tag-mommy-guilt","tag-parenting","tag-principles","tag-proverbs"],"yoast_head":"\n
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