Regina 
Don’t you wish you’d clicked on this link, and there was written a pat answer for the sins that seem to easily slip into our lives as moms? The thing is if you want to fight sin you have to fight the way God says to. There’ll be no victory apart from constant prayer and heavy doses of the Word, but, sweet friend, there can be victory. The Bible tells us so.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Our lives are hidden with Christ in God, but while we travel this earth we still work out our great salvation with fear and trembling. I think the fact that we sin in motherhood is just further evidence of the total depravity of man. After all, our children are the object of our love and great desire. We would easily give our lives for our children, yet we often hurt them with our sin, our careless anger, our indulgent selfishness, our persistent pride. We would lay down our physical lives for these little image bearers, but sometimes it is with extreme difficulty that we lay down our wants, dreams, ambitions, sleep, time, energy, and the like.
It is the daily dying to self that proves trying.
It is the daily dying to self or lack thereof that reveals what remains of our flesh. We are a new creation if we are in Christ Jesus, that is our hope. That is the sole reason we can not sin to the glory of God. The unsaved sinner can’t help sinning, but the forgiven saint may find the way out. I am here to urge us all to take the way out, to allow the Spirit of Christ to control our lives and to let our children stand witness to it. There are sins innumerable related to the happy task of mothering. This won’t be exhaustive. Today let’s consider at least one that seems to haunt us all.
The Sins of Anger & Pride.
We’ve all felt the heat of red hot anger flood our bodies. Sometimes we sin in it; sometimes we don’t. Often in motherhood we sin whether it’s by tone of voice or the content of our speech or the posture of our hearts. We don’t have to raise our voices to fall prey to this sin. Anger, impatience, and selfishness have as much to do with the inner disposition of the heart as they have to do with outward manifestations of that disposition.
Sin deceives. Never forget that. Sometimes we think the cause of the anger is righteous indignation that the child we writhed in anguish for or lay epiduraled up for (winking smile) for hours on end would dare to go against us.
We are surprised and shocked that these little children of ours are in fact sinners.
We fail to take the time to consider that discipline could be offered in a controlled intentional manner rather than in a largely impulsive ungodly manner. We have not planned to discipline; we have assumed all this parenting stuff would go our way rather easily. And we are genuinely surprised and deeply angered that our three year old (four, five, six…) would lay down on a germ inhabited floor wailing at the top of their lungs, because they did not get the fill-in-the-blank they requested. We are startled that our teenager would take that tone of disrespect with us. We cannot get our minds around the fact that that pre-adolescent lied to us. In the flesh, in almost every scenario, we are concerned about the onlookers and other casual observers and are content to force submission if possible instead of giving ourselves to prayer and thoughtful discipline, maybe even beforehand.
The discipline of God toward us is not haphazard; it is thought through and thorough. It is intentional. It may be hard, but it is always kind.
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4 (To be sure we presume upon His kindness far more than our children presume upon ours. Let us not nurture the hard and impenitent heart this Scripture speaks of here, a human heart that commits the same sin it so readily condemns).
Do we discipline our children like our Father disciplines us? We will fall short to be sure, but His pattern should be our absolute aim. Unbridled anger does not lead a child toward repentance any more than yelling at a bull to stop charging brings calm to the animal. It is in the nature of the bull to act so, as it is in a child’s nature to sin.
The cure for the child’s sin is not a harsh word or countenance, the cure is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sin cannot cure sin. Our sin will not cure our child’s sin. If we sin toward our children, if they are the brunt of our sin, we should humble ourselves before them readily to put Gospel are brilliant display right then and there. How many of us are missing Gospel sharing opportunities, because we are feigning perfection to our kids? If you only knew how many times a day, a week I say I’m sorry to my family within our home, oh my, y’all. The times are so many, because I haven’t been made perfect yet. To be holy as He is holy requires my repentance.
We must be willing to admit that our unrighteous anger is often rooted in pride. We must take the Scriptures and apply them to this issue of life like healing ointment to our souls. We can apply many Scriptures to the sin of anger and selfishness. I’m simply going to share one that I love with you. I often apply James 3 to my anger. It may not seem an obvious place to begin at the first but listen to it with me.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18
The wisdom that comes from above is everything anger, pride, selfishness is not. It is exactly what I desire the Lord to put inside of me in place of that old sinful way of mine. Would you believe, He has been willing to do that very thing when I ask. He is willing to help us, y’all. He is willing to guide us out of sin and into wisdom. Can you believe the beauty of this Gospel?! We are not after just being better moms, we are yielding to the literal work of God in our lives when we seek Him in His Word in order to not sin. It is not legalism or works-based stuff I’m speaking of here; I am speaking of life in the Spirit, a life that doesn’t grieve or quench Him within our callings as moms.
Look y’all (warm smile), I know we are tired. I know that we are doing the best we can. I know the schedule is over full, and we’re stressed a bit. What I am asking you is if you’re tired of giving yourself an excuse to sin with all that? What I am asking myself is if I am willing to yield to God and truly repent of this stuff, so that the pattern, the norm of my life becomes kindness? So that the kindness of the Spirit of Christ through me might lead my children to real repentance. That will be among the stuff that changes our lives. This is the way we live out the Gospel. Jesus didn’t come so that we would feel better about our natural selves. Jesus came to take take over and live your life. To live IS Christ.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is you life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:3
There is no condemnation here. Don’t walk away with a drop of that. When you close this page, walk away heart bowed to Jesus. This is my deepest desire. Confess your sins today and repent with me. Let’s live FORGIVEN.
