Parenting and Spiritual Poise

Spiritual poise helps us realize that God is the true Father and Mother of our children and ourselves, which assists us in responding to each situation with love.

By Estey Silva

Categories: Fatherhood, Fatherhood/Motherhood, Jesus' Commandment - To Love as He Loved, Love, Motherhood, Ruth

If you have children under the age of five, you know it can sometimes be challenging to remain calm during difficult parenting moments. Perhaps your toddler just spilled cereal all over the floor, your baby just spit up all over your new shirt, or your preschooler keeps yanking on his sister’s pigtails. Whatever is going on in your and your family’s lives these days, you can get through it with God-given spiritual poise.

What is spiritual poise?
Spiritual poise consists of patience, grace, kindness, compassion, strength, faithfulness, determination, and forbearance—qualities every parent needs in order to be successful.

Spiritual poise is that rock-solid feeling you get when you realize that you are not the only parent who is taking care of your child. God, the ultimate Father-Mother, is always parenting your child, and you are always being parented by God as well. It’s such a freeing thought—the burden of responsibility isn’t on your shoulders. God is right there with you, every step of the way, lovingly supporting every member of your family at all times and in all circumstances. You don’t have to worry—you don’t have to correct your child for every tiny infraction, and you can be at peace in the knowledge that God is in control.

Biblical example
Spiritual poise is what Ruth expressed when her husband died and everything in her life looked like it was falling apart. She decided to reach out and care for her mother-in-law, Naomi, rather than dwell on all the tragedies that had happened to her. In the end, her life worked out beautifully because she decided to focus on selfless love. That gave her the spiritual poise to keep living righteously. Likewise, in our experiences as parents, it might seem like everything is falling apart, but God is always lovingly parenting us. Through every challenging situation, we can count on God to lovingly "mother" us (comforting, guiding, and supporting us) and "father" us (strengthening, counseling, and uplifting us) every moment. God is the ultimate parent, and we can never lose His love.

Best Parenting Bible quotes that relate to spiritual poise
There are many Bible quotes that support and inspire our spiritual poise, helping us be better parents each day. Here are a few to whet your palate:

• Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Eph. 4:2)
• …clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Col. 3:12)
• The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (Psalm 103:8)

Apply It!
Consider writing a couple of notes to yourself and placing them in areas you frequent each day. Put them at eye-level on the fridge, on the mirror where you brush your teeth, and in your wallet next to your debit card. Read these quotes a few times each day – ponder them and apply them to your daily experience, and you’ll likely find yourself being more patient with your little ones. Parenting isn’t always easy, but we can get through the challenging moments with spiritual poise when we remember God’s love for all his children (that includes us parents!) throughout the day.