Solutions April 2018 | Page 39

free” (Galatians 5:1), so we are fulfilling
His greatest purpose in our lives when
we listen to His Spirit. Freedom, then,
enables us to love as Christ loved us.
When we are motivated by love, we fulfill
God’s expectations of us as people and
as parents through the power of Christ’s
Spirit within us (see Galatians 5:22-23).
Love is the ultimate virtue by which we
can become godly parents.
Maybe you’re remembering right now
the words of Jesus—“you are to be
perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Since we are all
imperfect Christian parents, that verse
can give one pause. But the Greek word
for “perfect,” teleios, can also refer to
“completeness” or “wholeness.” So take
Jesus’ words as an encouragement—He
wants you to find your wholeness as a
person, who also happens to be a parent,
in Him. That’s what He sent His Holy
Spirit to do in our lives: to make us—as
sinful, fragmented humans—whole in
Him. That wholehearted person is who
you can become as a parent and the
person your children will love to know.
Just remember: As a parent, you are very
special, deeply fallen, and greatly loved.
And so are your children, so show them
as their parent what that means.
Adapted from The Lifegiving Parent: Giving
Your Child a Life Worth Living for Christ by Clay
and Sally Clarkson. Copyright © 2018. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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Clay &
Sally Clarkson
Clay Clarkson is the executive director of Whole Heart
Ministries and the author of numerous books, includin