Mom, if You Get Your Parenting Tips From Social Media, Try This Instead
We find lots of mom-advice floating around out there these days. YouTube, podcasts and endless streams of social media tout tips on everything from potty training to reaching rebellious teens. But God already has a plan for teaching godly wisdom to mothers in place, Carol McLeod says, and it comes straight from Titus 2:3-4.
“I want to be the voice of a mother to the next generation of women,” she tells Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network, discussing her new book, Rooms of a Mother’s Heart. “I want younger moms to tap into the wisdom that I and some of my comrades have after raising children.
“You know, you don’t always need a peer in life,” she adds. “Sometimes you need somebody with some battle scars. You need realistic, not just idealistic. And so I want to be that mom.”
“Hold your babies,” McLeod says, pointing to what she identifies as one of her most significant words of wisdom. “You do not spoil a baby with affection or love or attention. That doesn’t spoil a baby; a baby comes with one need. And it’s not to be dry. Ant it’s actually not to be fed, but it is to be loved. And Mom, you got the job.”
McLeod says this need for love points to our need for the love of our heavenly Father. “Your child is going to learn who God is from the way you treat them. So if you are affectionate and loving and merciful and kind, that’s what they’re going to think about God in heaven. But if you’re stingy with your affection, if you’re cool with your emotions toward them, that’s what they’re going to think about Father God.
“So it’s important for parents to realize that we are the first taste of the Father relationship that our children ever get,” she says. “So reveal the character of God—even in the infant years.”
But what about families with older children? McLeod has godly words of advice for them as well. To learn much more from this Titus 2 woman, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here and subscribe to Greenelines on your favorite podcast platform for more inspiring stories like this one. Find McLeod’s book, Rooms of a Mother’s Heart, wherever fine books are sold, and check out her own podcast, Jolt of Joy, also on the Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}
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