“The same way a loving father feels toward his children--that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us, your beloved children, who live in awe of you.”
Psalm 103:13 TPT
If we want to be godly parents, nurturing mothers, able moms...then being a daughter comes first. In order to care for others, we must first let ourselves be cared for. And, by none other than our strong, ABBA, our Daddy. Our role as God’s daughter, to the King of Kings Himself, is what allows us to look our children in their eyes and confidently love them as Jesus does, because embracing our identity as His daughter leaves the imprint of our Father upon our children.
Motherhood can be hard and reflecting the Father in the messy moments even harder - I most definitely struggle with prioritizing my identity as a daughter of the King of Kings and for some very specific reasons. But, the reality is we all probably need to call out our struggles with embracing our identity as a daughter of Christ. This is a banner waving, an anthem calling out, to deactivate the lies; renounce their presumed validity, and claim the truth instead.
Lie #1 - I was meant to be a superhero I know that being a mom brings a lot of responsibility, but I can actually get quite a rush from being needed so much. It makes me feel strong, and who doesn’t like a little superhero cape status? I take pride in pouring out, and I often resist being poured into. Mothers are viewed as strong and dependable, right? But, daughters are viewed as helpless, and rightly so because they need a Defender. Let us lay down our pride and seek our Defender. We were not meant to be heroes and will quickly tire.
Lie #2 - Resting while our Father cares for us is wasted time I tend to belittle my daughter-role because I do not like to rest in His arms. I somehow feel that I am being selfish or unproductive. I tend to only associate rest with peaceful circumstances. Yet, rest is one of God’s greatest gifts. And by His Spirit, we can actually remain in a “state of rest,” no matter how chaotic our lives are, and still be productive. True rest results in a thriving lifestyle. A lack of rest results in a surviving lifestyle.
Lie #3 - Being a mom is of the highest priority I tend to prioritize my mom-role above my daughter-role because I lost my dad very suddenly to a heart attack almost six years ago. My whole world turned upside down, and I could not think of my daughter-role without feeling deep sadness. Maybe some of you can relate. Around this same time, I had my first child and I dove head first into my role as a mother. The truth, however, was that I started failing at every role. I wasn’t drawing my strength from my “Heavenly” Father so everything else suffered. We must rightly prioritize our motherhood and acknowledge that being His daughter comes first which enables us to be good mothers. These are three lies I had to tear down. We shouldn’t desire to simply “feel” strong under the security that our kids need us. We should secure the reality that we "are” strong because He chose to call us his daughters. Here in lies our strength, and in these truths, we humbly find rest.
Your Fellow Able Mom, Celeste Claborn
Lord, help us not to run from our beautiful identity as Your daughter. Humble our pride; teach us to rest; and carry our sorrows from any loss. Thank You for teaching us how to mother, as we cherish being Your daughters.