I recently said something to a group of mom friends, and they all started laughing. But I wasn’t trying to be funny — I was being serious. What I said was true but clearly not believed:
“When we yell at our kids, God lavishes us with love.”
When I said that statement, I didn’t mean that God minimizes sin or that yelling at our kids as no big deal or that God turns a blind eye on an angry mom.
But the laughter had me thinking that we misunderstand truths about sin, ourselves, and God. Let’s dig into these truths together, shall we?
The truth about sin.
Sin is a big deal… which might be the understatement of human history. It’s not only the miss-the-mark things we do, it’s the state of our existence. For sinful people to be restored to a holy God, we need our sin paid for by One not infected with sinfulness.
That’s why Jesus stepped in and cancelled our sin-debt, so our relationship with God could be restored. Our sins were nailed to the cross and we bear them no more, and when we sin, we are to confess our transgressions to God + each other, and then turn away from that way of behaving.
Sin is a big deal, and yet, we give it too much power. We believe it’s possible to find a sin God cannot cover or forgive, like yelling at the precious little people He gave us as gifts to raise.
We give sin the power to derail the good plans of a sovereign and holy God. While our sins have earthly consequences, they are not detrimental to God’s purpose for us in the world.
The truth about sin is that it is a big deal, but it isn’t as powerful as our good God whose arm is never too short to save.
The truth about us.
We are a big deal to God. If we weren’t, God wouldn’t have created us, pre-planned good works for us to do, or written us into His Great Big Story. We’re here because of God’s power and love and because He has a special assignment custom-designed for us.
And although we are a big deal, we’re not as important as we think we are. We believe that we’re the ones holding all things together, and when we drop the ball with disciplining our children, we mess them up for good. We believe that our children’s futures are solely up to us.
We forget that only God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and sovereign. God is in us, before us, and behind us. He is at work on our behalf at all times to redeem and restore us, our relationships, and our circumstances and to conform us more and more to the image of His Son.
The truth about us is that we are a big deal, but we’re not as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present as we think we are.
The truth about God.
God is the biggest deal — it’s impossible for us to make too much of Him. He’s Creator, Judge, Friend, Father, Servant of all, King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is Savior, Conqueror, Promise-Maker, and Promise-Keeper.
God is the biggest deal, but sometimes, we don’t see Him rightly. We see Him as our disappointed parent or never-satisfied judge.
We forget that God never shames us. When we yell at our kids, God’s voice is never the one that whispers, “I can’t believe you did that.” God is never shocked when sinners sin. God doesn’t employ shame as a behavior-modifying tactic because Jesus’ love on the cross obliterated shame.
When we yell at our kids, God welcomes back each mom who is weary, tired, and beating herself up because she messed up again. He reminds us of our true identity as one who is dearly loved, fully known, and one who lacks nothing because she has a Good Shepherd.
We forget that God never condemns us. When we yell at our kids, God’s voice is never the one that pronounces, “You are a bad mom.” There is no condemnation in Christ, only conviction.
When we yell at our kids, His still small voice talks straight to our heart, “That’s not who you are.” His conviction gives us grace and moves us back into relationship. Conviction always leads us back to His love.
The truth about what I said.
As I talked with my mom friends, I said that, “When we yell at our kids, God lavishes us with love.”
But God takes it further: He never shames or condemns, but always convicts and always loves.
Sin is a big deal, but it’s never more powerful than our God. His grace is greater for His people who are a big deal to Him.
Friends, may we always remember the truth that there’s more grace and love in Him than there is anger and yelling in us. When I talked with my mom friends, I wasn’t trying to be funny, but to share the truth — and God is always serious about His love for us.
If you’d like strategies to help you move away from Angry Mom, go here!
So so good! Reminds me of how my mom often says, “get over yourself.” God loves this screamer of a mom and her boys even more than she does! Such comfort in your words! Blessings!
Liz, God loves each of us more than we could ever ask or imagine! So true Liz. -jill