Gospel Parenting

Today is the first of several posting of excerpts from a good article on parenting, written by Dave Desforge.

Heart to Heart Parenting
I. As a parent/steward I am called to imitate God’s example.A. The biblical picture of God as a perfect parent is rich and multi-dimensional.He reveals Himself as much more than simply a disciplinarian. He is protective (Psa. 68:5), compassionate (Psa. 103:13,14; Isa. 49:15), comforting (Isa. 66:13; 2 Cor. 1:3), loving (Hos. 11:1), a caregiver (1 Peter 5:7), and a gift-giver (Jer. 3:19; Mt. 6:4; 7:11; Lk. 11:13; Jas. 1:17).He is depicted as one who knows His children intimately (eg., Psa. 139), as one who liberally forgives (Mt.26:28; Jn. 3:16,17; Eph. 1:7), and as one who is responsive to human needs (eg., Gen. 9:8-17; and the rescue of Israel from Egypt).

Are there any ways in which my role as a parent is becoming narrow and truncated? Am I allowing necessity and expediency, the tyranny of the urgent, to shape my parenting? As I face the hectic, overbooked, overcrowded, overcommitted nature of modern life, am I becoming more and more of a reactive parent, who steps in far more often as the corrector, than the balanced, multi-dimensional sort of father God models?