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We’ve all heard of grace.
“Just give your child some grace…”
“Accept God’s grace…”
“You need grace in parenting…”
But what exactly does that mean?
Why is it important?
And why is it as important to give grace as to receive it?
A little while back I wrote about some New Year’s resolutions for moms. You can read about them here. Two of the things I wrote about are giving grace and receiving grace.
Let’s dive right in!
What is grace?
According to dictionary.com when in the form of a noun it means “a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior:”
In a verb it is verb (used with object), graced, grac·ing. To lend or add grace to; adorn: to favor or honor:
I feel like both of those apply because we as superiors to our children can manifest favor upon our children and we can also “adorn” or “favor” them. Especially in difficult situations.
And what about us? I know that God gave us grace and gives us grace daily (and we know we need it daily). He is our superior and he gives us favor and adorns us.
What does it mean to receive grace from God?
Now that we know what grace is, how do we accept it from God? What does it even mean?
In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace was already given to us. It’s a gift that we can choose to accept or deny. It’s already ours if we want it.
All we have to do is accept it as freely as it was given to us.
John 1:14 tells us, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus was full of grace. We want to be more like Jesus so we should want to accept grace.
I love this quote from bible-knowledge.com:
“Once you enter into this full surrender with the Lord, He will then start to take immediate control of your life and will then start to perfectly lead you every step of the way into your divine destiny.”
Accepting grace for God is surrendering to the Lord. It’s giving Him complete control of your life.
This can be hard! I know!
I’m a control freak and I think I can do a great job with my life. But I also know the truth. The God that created me and “marvelously set me apart” is the God that has my whole life planned and everything already figured out. I don’t need to worry. All I have to do is trust God, have faith in Him, and accept grace from Him.
Want to go more into detail? Check out this article at beliefnet.com.
How do I give grace to my child?
This can be so hard!
Especially when you have that difficult child. The child that challenges you beyond anything you ever imagined. The child that twists you up and turns your world upside down.
You just want to hold on to that, to that anger. You need to teach them a lesson, right? I know exactly how that feels. I’ve lived it and still live it every day with one of my children.
But what can you do? How can you overcome it and offer grace to your child? THAT child?
I read an amazing article at focusonthefamily.com on the topic of grace, forgiveness, and parenting and I would like to share some of it with you and you can always read the full-length article here.
“If grace and forgiveness are the antidote to our negativity, shouldn’t we more freely give it? Yes, it’s hard. Grace means absorbing or canceling a debt that someone has accumulated by hurting you, disappointing you or disrespecting you. It requires us to forgive someone who we believe may not deserve forgiveness, and forgive them for something that we can’t forget. It means letting go of any anger that has taken up residence in our head.
As kids are learning how to handle life, relationships, and emotions, mistakes and messes will happen. Sometimes we just don’t have the patience to deal with the messiness, but when we’re able to extend forgiveness to our kids, we create an environment of freedom, connectedness, and love. Kids ultimately benefit from grace and forgiveness in these ways.”
Accepting and giving grace in parenting
We as humans and parents mess up. On a daily basis sometimes. But we need to know that our God is a forgiving God. We need to have faith in Him. Accept the grace that he freely offers us.
As we find our way on this parenting journey we need to give grace to our children. We need to be patient, forgiving and offer grace to the littlest and most precious members of our family.
Ultimately we are learning how to be the best parenting we can be. And our children are learning how to be the best kids they can be. Let’s include grace in all of that.
Remember mama, you got this!
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