I’m so happy to have Lori Wildenberg as my guest today. Her post and giveaway are a great accompaniment to my Love series. Be sure to check out the great giveaway at the end.
(The post Lori mentions, What is Love, can be found here.)
Here’s Lori…
Love is…
When Lynn asked, “What is love?” on her social media sites, she said that the most typical answer was “a sacrifice.”
Love is a sacrifice.
With love, we die to self.
Sacrifice.
My favorite verses in the Bible are 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. God clearly defines what love looks like. It is a decision to be patient and kind, an attitude of contentment and humility, an outward focus that chooses respect and unselfishness.
Love is self-controlled. We choose peace and forgiveness over sinful anger and unforgiveness, love has the heavenly perspective of goodness and truth. Love in action protects and trusts. It is also a commitment to show tenacity when the going gets tough and to have hope.
Actually, love is the ultimate strength in order to “be” the sacrifice.
Many couples include the famous love chapter in their wedding. It’s a great way to start off a marriage. But… it is also practical and applicable for moms and dads.
I began using 1 Corinthians 13 with my kids. Sadly, at first, I didn’t use it in the best way. When they were unkind to a sibling, I would have them write out ways to be “nicer” following the verse and giving practical ideas on ways to behave.
For example: Love is kind. I can show kindness by not calling my sister a name.
I was concerned about their outward behavior. I sort of missed the heart-piece, the bigger part of the training.
Kindness is a quality I want my kids to develop and it’s my job to show them how and encourage them when they do show kindness.
Preferred behavior isn’t a bad concern, it’s just too short-term. The part about training a child’s character or heart (and mine) is the bigger, long-term piece.
We can encourage the development of these qualities in our kids by the way in which we raise them.
We can train our kids what it means to be kind, patient, or self-controlled by the way we parent.
If we only parent by using natural consequences, character qualities like grace and contentment will not be built.
Parenting is a sacrifice, isn’t it? We daily die to self to be the moms (or grandmoms) God designed us to be.
Love, the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love, is the best way to raise our kids. This type of love helps us build relationships with our children that last a lifetime.
Lori Wildenberg, loves to encourage and support parents in their quest to be the mom or dad they want to be. Lori is co-founder of 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting and co-author (with Becky Danielson) of three parenting books. A perfect day in Lori’s world is a hike with her hubby, four kids and Murphy, the family labradoodle.
*For more information or to connect with Lori:
www.loriwildenberg.com
LIKE Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/1Corinthians13Parenting
Affiliates:
TheMOMInitiative.com
Mothering from Scratch
K12 Teacher Staff Development
During the LOVE month, February, 1C13P is celebrating! The 1 Corinthians 13 Parent Series: Raising Little Kids with Big Love and Raising Big Kids with Supernatural Love and their companion study guides, is being formally launched. My co-author Becky Danielson and I are so excited; so much so that we wanted to spread a little love around.
We are giving away over $400.00 of gifts: books, jewelry, and one-on-one parent coaching with either Lori or Becky, both licensed parent and family educators. To be eligible for the gifts, com during the month of February. Winners will be ment on this blog post or on an article over at www.1Corinthians13Parenting.com randomly drawn each Friday and notified via email. Thank you for sharing in this special month-long event!
You can find Lori’s and Beth’s books on Amazon:
Raising Big Kids with Supernatural Love
Raising Little Kids with Big Love
Empowered Parents: Putting Faith First
***If you’ve missed the previous posts in the Love series, you can find them here…
* Love Suffers
* Envy, Envy, Thy Name is Poison!
* Do You Suffer from Perpereuomai or Phusioutai?
