Ownership or Ambassadorial?

I think for most of us ownership parenting and ambassadorial parenting represent a daily battle that is fought on the turf of our hearts. We are constantly torn between what we want and what God wants. Sometimes we just want our children to behave so our lives could be easier, while at other moments we accept the fact that parenting is spiritual warfare.

It is helpful to think through at a practical level, the difference between the two models. Let us therefore distinguish between these two models of parenting in four areas that every parent somehow, in some way, deals with: identity, work, success, and reputation. The way we think about and interact with these four things will expose and define who we think we are as a parent and what we think our job is in raising our children.

1. Identity: where we look to find our sense of who we are.
2. Work: what we define as the work we have been called to do.
3. Success: what we define success to be.
4. Reputation: what tells people who we are and what we’re about.

The coming weeks we will be learning little more deeper into each of these areas. Till such time, keep meditating as parents on these areas. God bless your parenting and make it a blessing to your children and His Kingdom.