PARENTING & FAMILY
How can I tell if I'm doing a good job as a mother?

(Ephesians 6:1-4)
Teach your children who they really belong to.
Mounting piles of diapers, socks, and underwear. Flute lessons. Staying up all night with a newborn—or waiting for a rebellious teen to come home. Scout meetings. Sunday school and church activities. Bake sales that are announced at the last minute. All of these things stack up to an awful lot for moms to do. It's no wonder they get tired!

When you're feeling overwhelmed with things to do, this passage offers relief. It states some straightforward ways you can tell if you're being a godly mom (6:4).

1. Don't be hard on your kids. That means not taking your stress or busyness out on them.

2. Raise them properly. You can raise your kids to be kind to others; provide for their physical needs (such as food, clothing, shelter), their emotional needs (for love and discipline), their mental needs (for schooling), and, most of all, for their spiritual needs (where they're heading for eternity).

3. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord. Take them to Sunday school and church. Read Bible stories to them at home. And, above all, live out the truths of Scripture in your daily life! (See also Luke 2:41-52; Hebrews 12:5-13.)

Words to remember:
Parents, don't be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord.—Ephesians 6:4

Ephesians 6:1-4
Children and Parents
6 Children, you belong to the Lord, and you do the right thing when you obey your parents. The first commandment with a promise says, ²"Obey your father and you mother, ³and you will have a long and happy life."

⁴Parents, don't be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord.

These excerpts are from The Bible for Today's Christian Woman. This Bible is no longer in print. But new this month is the Woman's Life Bible, which includes the same great features for today's busy woman. Click here to purchase the Woman's Life Bible.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc. All rights reserved. Excerpted from The Bible for Today's Christian Woman, CEV, pages 1364-1365. Used by permission. For reprint information call 630-260-6200.