31 Days :: My "Go To" Parenting Passage

Sometimes, my children stump me. Their behavior throws me for such a loop that I don't know how to respond, what to say or how to shepherd their heart to Jesus. Last week a friend even told me to "never be surprised by your children's sin."

Good advice.

So today I share my go-to passage. Colossians 3:12-17. This could be one of the most all encompassing passages I've ever read. So much ground is covered. Some Bibles title this passage "Rules For Holy Living." There is no telling how many times this passage has been read out loud in my down stairs guest bathroom. Hilarious. It is so rich with instruction.

Read this fresh today. Take your time. Don't rush through with an, "Oh, I know all of this" mindset like I sometimes do. Read it in light of your parenting. In light of your marriages. Imagine how your job could be different if this passage marked your life. I pray this over myself often. It is written on a note card and sticks to my bathroom mirror everyday.

{Oh Jesus , how I long to look like you.}

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17

Do you have a great passage of Scripture that you use a lot as a parent? Please please share! Leave a comment for us.

- 31 Days in the Parenting Handbook