Call Them Blessed

I am so thankful that my parents pictured God’s love by showing their unconditional forgiveness, enforcing their rules consistently, and sacrificing selflessly for me.

With Mother’s Day and Father’s Day right around the corner, I have been reflecting on qualities I appreciate about my parents. I tossed around a few thoughts: they always instilled in me that I was capable of anything, they (especially my mom) enforced the discipline of daily instrument practice, and they made parenting seem effortless most of the time. I finally settled on a key attribute of my relationship with them over the years: security.

The formative years of childhood are exciting and scary at the same time. God created the family unit, a father and a mother, specifically because that is exactly what a child needs. When implemented properly, a parent-child relationship pictures that of God and His children, the foundation of which is eternal security. I am so thankful that my parents pictured God’s love by showing their unconditional forgiveness, enforcing their rules consistently, and sacrificing selflessly for me; these gave me tremendous security.

My parents typified God’s forgiveness by always reminding me that, no matter how bad I would ever be, no matter how far I could ever stray, they would still love me. And I knew this was true. Even now, I realize how much greater is God’s forgiveness; if my earthly parents were so generous and free in their willingness to freely forgive, how much greater my heavenly Father’s desire to restore me when I stray from His abiding presence?

Though it sounds counterintuitive, the knowledge that disobedience would always be punished gave my young self security. Imagine committing a trespass several times and not being punished until, say, the fifth time, but then having “the book thrown at you.” Instead, my parents consistently required adherence to rules, so we always knew the expectations upon us. Over time, this developed habits of unquestioning obedience because we knew resistance was futile. 🙂


Finally, my parents’ selflessness in giving to me gave me security; I always was secure that they truly loved me. They delighted in giving of themselves to me, even like my Father in heaven gives freely to those of His children who ask. Without my realizing it, this quality helped me to better understand just how God loves to bestow His blessings on us. I never had to learn the actions of a loving parent so I more easily comprehended His love for me as His child.

The Bible speaks about honoring your parents, so here I have tried to do small justice to this task. Thank you, Lord, for the parents You picked just for me!

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