“…I will have failed.”
By Holly Scheer
Today I had a conversation with a friend about child rearing and how terribly serious our vocations as mothers and parents are. We talked about education and faith.
My conclusion is a simple one, but it’s not one that came quickly or easily to me.
Even if my children are launched successfully in careers with families, happy and productive and well positioned in the eyes of the world– if they leave the faith I will have failed.
Raising children is hard. But figuring out what really matters isn’t– its our faith. It’s Jesus.
***And beyond my personal feelings, let’s remember the Third Article of the Creed. It’s the Holy Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies– and Keeps. Peace be with you, sisters.
4 Comments
Sara Pulse
As a Christian and a Lutheran I know I can only present the Gospel. Only the Holy Spirit works faith. ..not me. If my child denies the faith although he or she has been taught of the love of Jesus it ultimately between the child snd God. How dare we think we can work faith and take the place of the Holy Spirit.
katieluthersisters
Hi, Sara, thanks for commenting! That’s why the Third Article is quoted in this post. The Holy Spirit indeed calls, gathers, and enlightens the whole Christian church on earth. Hope that helps!
Holly
Janet
I understand what you’re saying, that our most important job as parents is to teach the faith. And we do this tirelessly, with much prayer and humility, knowing that it is the Holy Spirit who creates and sustains faith. However, the choices that a child (especially an adult child) makes are his own, even when it goes against everything he has been taught. A mother whose child has left the faith does not need the fault assigned to her. It is not her failure; it is the child’s free will. I know many a mother of adult children who would have written the exact same words you wrote above when their children were little, and now they wonder what more they could have done. But a mother with a straying child needs the Gospel, not the Law.
Diane
@Janet #3
Janet,
I know exactly what you are talking about. Each child is different and it’s only by the grace of God that they stay in the faith. However, they can reject what they have been given in baptism and their Christian upbringing. Lord, have mercy.
In Christ,
Diane