Reaching Your Child’s Heart

love your children day 6

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. Proverbs 15:1-2

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”  -Eleanor Roosevelt

 

  • Start your day with God! Grab your Bible, a journal, a pen, and find a comfortable place to sit. Open up your heart during this time to the Lord.
  • Pray against distractions and idleness. This is your time!
  • Read Proverbs 15: 1-2, 4 in your Bible. Write verse 1 in your journal.

Reaching Your Child’s Heart

When my girls became toddlers and started taking on more responsibilities, my life became more difficult. It felt more difficult because with more responsibilities came more mishaps, messes, and mistakes!

I remember in those days, little things like a spill in the kitchen would often cause me to lose my temper, especially on a busy day. Looking back, it took only five minutes to clean up the mess, but it took much longer to mend my daughter’s broken spirit after I had scolded her.

Over the years, I have had to submit my temper and anger to the Lord. And He is so good! He revealed to me what an honor it is to be a mom, and has helped me to remain calm and lean on Him.

Most importantly, He spoke to me about how fragile and precious my girl’s hearts and spirits are to Him.

Children, especially when they are under the age of 12, look up to their parents and admire them more than any other adults in their life. As parents, we have the power to nurture our children’s hearts. However, after our child has done something that frustrates us, our tendency is to lose our temper and say something we regret. This is dangerous.

With every sharply delivered word or disapproving stare, our children’s hearts become smaller and more hidden away.

Colossians 3:21 says, “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” With this kind of behavior over time, we can truly break our children’s hearts and spirits.

Our children do not need a rigid taskmaster but a loving encourager!

Our children need a mom who, as it says in Proverbs 3:5, “trusts in the Lord with all her heart and leans not on her own understanding.”

I would like to encourage you, dearest mama, to avoid overreacting to minor child mishaps and accidents. If there is a legitimate issue with your child that does need to be addressed, I encourage you to lead by example. Show your child that you can remain calm.

Also, model for your child the most important thing: turning to Jesus in prayer and reading His word. Let them know that Mommy has to ask God for help too and that you’re not perfect. They will appreciate not feeling like they are the only ones who mess up!

Let’s all celebrate our children by nurturing and protecting their hearts together!

Questions to Ponder

  • When was the last time you looked your child directly in the face and told them you loved them and are proud of them?
  • Read Psalms 112:1-2. How does this verse make you feel? Convicted? Encouraged? Write down some thoughts in your journal.

Faith Filled Idea

This week let’s focus on praising our wonderful children. Strive to speak three times more positive words than negative ones to your child. Go even further and make lists for all of your children celebrating the qualities and talents you love and admire about them. Read the list out loud to all of your children over dinner one night. Their little hearts will swell with encouragement.

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-What is an area of your parenting that you have struggled with and had to submit to the Lord?

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Rachel Jones
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7 Comments on “Reaching Your Child’s Heart”

  1. I love your transparent, honest encouragement Rachel! What you said is so true…”our children do not need a rigid taskmaster, but a loving encourager”. Thanks for sharing all God has placed in your heart!

  2. What a wonderful Bible study Rachel! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful heart! I love how you learned and obeyed God. You are such a wonderful example to me and all of the other mama’s of a wise woman who obeys her God!

    1. Thanks so much Deb! It is hard as a mom to admit you struggle in certain areas. My temptation was to always act like I was the “perfect” mama. But God does not honor pride. He wants us to be honest and submit to Him. 🙂 Love you!!!

  3. I am going to start praying through these verses everyday! This study is so timely for me. Thank you!

  4. I love this study Rachel! What an amazing reminder to give our frustrations to the Lord. You are so right about our children having such tender hearts that need our grace and protection! I love today’s faith filled idea too! Oh, and the area I struggle with frustration in parenting the most is when my boys argue with each other. I need to pray about it and look for good ideas to help them be bonded to each other and peacemakers.

    1. Oh Tara, thanks so much for sharing! The faith filled idea for this study is super important to me. I have been trying to do that once a week at dinner. The girls obviously love it. 🙂 I will be praying for you to remain peaceful and calm when your boys fight. It is so hard for us to see our kids being mean to each other. Love you!

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