30 PARENTAL AUTHORITY IS ROOTED IN GODLY
CHARACTER NOT ROLE OR RESPONSIBILITY.
“As long as you live under my roof, you will do I what tell you to do. I brought you into this world and I can take you out of this world,” the irate mother yelled.
Authority is vested in relationship, not role. I exercise authority as a parent because God set me in place as a parent and gave me the responsibility and authority to minister to my children on His behalf.
Children are gifts, not possessions. As parents we are stewards of the awesome gift from God called a child. We are held accountable for how we invest our gifts in the kingdom of God.
Like Abram, we are blessed to be a blessing. As such, we pour the seeds of material, emotional, and spiritual blessings into our children, expecting the fruit of God’s spirit to be produced in their lives. Our personal, dynamic relationship with the Lord empowers us to exercise His authority as well as His justice and mercy in our child’s life.
We are physical giants in the eyes of a child. At first, they see us as threatening, overwhelming, huge creatures who can overpower them in every way. Exercising authority in an arbitrary and heavy-handed way intimidates a small child. But we can be loving, gentile, fair teachers of truth who communicate God’s ways to a child. As such, God’s authority and character will shine through us.
Parental authority is imparted by the Spirit of God, not inherited from our parents. Parental authority is exercised on God’s behalf. We exercise His authority, His way, in His time, for His purpose so that God can be see in and through us.
You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:42–45). Action Steps I/We Need to Take