Is Your Identity in Christ or Your Children?

In my post yesterday, "A Square Peg in a Round Hole" I said the following:

 I'm a stay at home Mom but don't feel like being a wife and motherhood is a "high calling".  I think it's an important role and perhaps one of the most important I play, but my high calling is to serve the Lord wherever He puts me.

 

I wanted to clarify this a bit because I was doing bullet points and didn't really elaborate what I meant.  Anyone who has read my blog or knows me in real life knows that I love my children with all my heart!  Nothing hurts me more than when they are unhappy or hurt and I can honestly say that I would lay my life down for anyone of them.  I thank God every single day for the opportunity I have to be their mother.  Besides my relationship with the Lord, my family is my top priority.

I know in recent history, motherhood has gotten put way down at the bottom of many women's list of priorities.  In fact, most people sneer at women who want nothing more than to care for their children.  We've come to the point where motherhood is not something to strive for and the role of a stay-at-home mom is scoffed at.

So in reaction to that, there is a push by many to bring motherhood back to a place of importance.  The goal is to help women see how valuable their roles as moms are.  And this is a good thing!

Yet, as with many things, the pendulum starts to swing too far the other way.  Women take things they hear and are taught and start to place their children in the place that was intended for God.  They start putting "motherhood" up on such a pedestal that it really can become an idol in their lives.  Their identity becomes wrapped up in their children.  They lose who they are and who God intended them to be.

If motherhood is supposed to be our high calling then what about all the thousands of women who struggle with infertility.  Are they second class citizens?  I think not!

This is what I was talking about yesterday.  My identity is not in my children, but in Christ.  I am first and foremost, a child of God.  My greatest calling is to follow Him and to do the tasks that He calls me to.  One of my "tasks" right now is being the best mother I can be to Nathan, Stephen & Emily.  But some day they will be grown and gone and if all my identity is wrapped up in them, then I will have a very difficult time letting go.

If I find my identity in Christ then I will be ready for whatever He has for me next!  I will always be a mother, but I need to find my joy and contentment in the Lord and not my children.  I hope that clears up any misconceptions I may have left you with yesterday!