The Pride Must Flee in Parenting

As I have shared on many occasions in the Imago community, parenting is my greatest struggle. There is something about trying to raise my three kids that, quite frankly, kicks my tail every day. This struggle is relentless - two steps forward and one step back...but...did you catch that? Progress.

Do you know how long it took me to see that? To even come to that realization, someone else had to point it out to me! That person had to remind me often (and still does) to keep trying and to continue asking for forgiveness. I don't know how many times I have thought to myself, "What's the point of asking for forgiveness? I am just going to fail again. I will always have this struggle. I will never get past all of this."

Then, that someone gently reminds me that God says to ask for forgiveness, even if I think I will do it again. It is not up to me to decide whether or not I am worthy of forgiveness. She painted a picture of my rejection of God's forgiveness as me shaking my fist at Him and said what I was doing sounded like pride. I had never thought of it that way. All I could think about was how I was failing God.

Pride tends to keep us from seeing all the progress we have made in overcoming temptations. It can also make us think we have made far more progress than we actually have, especially compared to the next guy. In this way pride keeps us where we are, never moving forward. I think C.S. Lewis puts it nicely:

"I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptation...No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us: it is the very sign of His presence."

I am a muddy and tattered child. Every time I feel pride rising up in me in its many forms, I am reminded of what my wise friend said. Will I shake my fist at God, or will I reach inside myself and seek to offer my pride over to Him as an act of obedience, as a chance to move forward? Will my pride keep me from accepting God's forgiveness - will yours?

Imago Dei is one of the Peoria, IL churches located at 210 W Arcadia Ave, Peoria, IL 61604.