I have a son that is a perfectionist.
With school work, this really shows.
I try to get him to just finish already instead of him taking 10x longer than expected.
It’s easy to say that when you are not a perfectionist.
I can push him and push him, but he’s just trying to get it good and right for him.
When it comes to certain things, I can be a perfectionist, or OCD, about some things.
Take my redesigning my blog.
What should have taken a few months at most took me a year and a half! Everything had to be perfect.
The sad but true fact is, with both situations, the outcome will never be perfect. Never.
None of us can be perfect.
We Christians know the only human ever perfect was Jesus.
And for whatever reason, it’s so hard for us NOT to be perfectionists (in the area we are in).
We want _______ to be great and correct and right and an accurate representation of us.
But that prideful way of perfectionism can keep us from finishing or even starting things. It can keep kids from finishing homework or bloggers from opening their website.
But there a more ways our perfectionism can show up:
Parenting is one area.
Homeschooling is another.
How about teaching our children about our faith?
How about teaching our children why we believe what we believe?
And on top of that…
Are we teaching our children what the Bible says about issues going on today in our world right now?
Are you?
Many Christian parents do not.
We put it off.
We tell ourselves, ” once I _____, I will _____.”
Or “after _____, I will start to ______”.
We can’t let our perfectionism and the lies that we tell ourselves stop us from passing on the truth of God’s word to our children.
After all, God has commanded us to do it.
The Bible is full of totally imperfect people that God used to make huge impacts for the gospel. In fact, I can’t think of anyone in the Bible, besides Jesus, that God used that didn’t have flaws.
And the super neat thing about God is that he can use our imperfectness, flaws, scars, past, and present for good.
So if you wonder how you will answer those tough questions you kids will ask you about the Christian faith and topics in the culture today, don’t feel like you need to be a theologian or pastor or certified apologist to answer them.
You will need to have faith that God will give you and your children everything they need when the timing is right for Him.
So, know this: You kids will ask hard questions. If you’ve been a parent long enough, they already have. So that’s normal.
And if your child isn’t asking questions (particularly teens and tweens), you’ll need to start asking some to start.
There is nothing wrong with saying what you know, even if it’s short. Tell your child that you’ll look into it and give them a better answer soon.
There is nothing wrong with admitting that you do not know the answer, but promise them that you will find out more about it.
When kids ask tough questions, it can show a lot of us just how little we know of our faith or how to articulate our beliefs on specific subjects.
Sure, it will be a challenge, but I promise it will be an exciting challenge filled with endless blessings.
I’ve personally seen how God has used the time I spend digging for answers to answer problems I’m dealing with personally and helping others that share struggles with me.
Kids ask some of the most profound questions. It is your privilege and duty as a Christian parent to be the one to help them find the answers they long to know.
If they ask, they want to know.
If you’d like to learn about all the practical tools and habits to make this much more doable, join me here as I share what all the Lord (and my kids) have shown me through the years as I have continually tried my best to point them to Jesus.
Teach your kids and build a deeper, lasting relationship with them.
Click here to get started and see the many resources I have to help you.
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