A Baby’s View of Parenting

Luke 2:41-52

Intro: It is understood that your child is not Jesus, and that you are not Mary or Joseph. But there are still some vital truths we must take away from this story.

Once, a little boy named Lance Pittman, whose family had recently joined our congregaton, came running up to me, eyes wide open, and asked, “Are you Jesus? I was relieved to tell him that I was not. But you just never know what’s going on in the mind of a child.

In fact, the incarnation gave God the opportunity to give all of us a baby’s view of parenting. God fit himself inside a baby’s body and mind.

Spirituality. Please understand that the single, most important part of me is my soul, my spiritual life.

• I’m cute.
• I’m smart.
• I’m cuddly.
• I’m strong.
• But I have a soul.

“And God breathed into his nostrils and man became a living soul.”

Please take my spiritual training seriously. I need more than just fun and good times. I need to have a relationship with God.  The best way to teach me about God is through your own example. I will weigh your words against your actions.

Individuality. Please understand that I am not anyone else. I may look like and act like others, but I am not them. God has created me to be uniquely his own.

• Do not let your own desires shape your expectations of me.
• Do not live out your own lives vicariously through me.
• Do not see a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a preacher, a mechanic or anything or anyone else in me and force me to live out your dreams.
• Let God place His own handprint on my life.
• Jesse wanted David to be a shepherd.
• God wanted David to be a king.

Destiny. Please understand that God has His hand on my life and that He wants me for His purposes. The job you have is to prepare me to fulfill whatever destiny God has for me.

• Love me so I will be emotionally strong.
• Provide for me so I will be physically strong.
• Enjoy me so I will be happy.
• Protect me so I will have no fears.
• Teach me so I will be morally fit.
• Discipline me so I will have character.
• Show me so I will know how to live.

But, remember, walk the fine line:

• Love without doting;
• Provide without spoiling;
• Enjoy without obsessing;
• Protect without smothering;
• Teach without dictating;
• Discipline without abusing;
• Show how without granting freedom.
• Always be aware of the possibility that I may have a divine purpose far greater than anything you may imagine.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

Parents, God has placed this child in your life as a trust. You are not developing a servant for you, but for God. Place your child’s spirituality, individuality and destiny above everything else. Let it determine every decision, every move, and every circumstance of his or her life.