Bad Parenting

How many times have you heard someone say "I am a bad parent" or "I have not been a good parent lately"? That is something that comes out of my mouth, and I don't know why. Often when I find the best parents are the ones saying that and the parents that I do not think I want to be like are the ones that I never hear saying anything about their parenting skills. Why is that?

After I hear either of those phrases the question that comes to mind is..."compared to who?" Are you comparing your self to a TV sitcom like the cosby show, the general public, or mabye God (the ultimate father). Deep down I feel like I do the best I can and that I am a good father. But I dont normally compare myself to God. There is a problem with that. The first problem is that the Cosby show was not real and so the situations you are in as a parent do not offer anything that is fair to compare yourself to. The general public is not a good option to do any comparison unless you think daytime television is feeding your child healthy ideas and teaching them the right things.

My point is that we try to critique ourselves yet do not have the right focus. I know we all feel like we are not good enough or fit enough to be as good as God. But there are a lot of things that he has shown and given us that can help in our parenting journey. Everyone says no one is prepared to be a parent. That is so true. Yet when are where do we learn to be a parent. I certainly hope that we are not learning to be a parent from our kiddos. That would be like the blind leading the blind. Most of us probably put together our own little mix from our parents, and what we have seen on TV and from our friends that are parents.

The best parenting skills out there are ones directly from God. He has unconditional love yet is fair and just. He is 100% about us all the time and loves us for who we choose to be. What better parent is there for us to strive to be like?