“This has been the best school year yet!” my daughter exclaimed. I was glad to hear it, because I knew the reality of hardship that she had chosen not to focus on.
It’s challenging for a mother to let go of an injustice that has befallen her child. Bullying is an epidemic, and it’s not limited to physical harm. The mental torment that some children receive in the classroom can distract them from learning, and lead them to question the very core of their self worth.
Moms can make a big difference in how their kids cope with bullying by listening to them and repeating to them the truth about who they are. But the most powerful weapon in the war against the bullying is prayer.
Father, we praise You for our children. Each one is crafted differently by Your creative hand. Every child carries a piece of Your purpose in his or her heart. They have taught us a knew depth of love, and helped us to grow closer to You.
Thank You for trusting us to take care of these precious souls. We are grateful to be mothers, and thankful beyond belief that You have blessed us with the privilege of watching them grow into the people You made them to be.
Father, we confess that as they grow up, there are times that we don’t know how to take our emotion out of the picture in order to guide them correctly and compassionately. When our children are bullied, we become defensive and bitter. It’s easy to fall prey to vengeful thinking and hurl insults back at the ones causing our child pain. Forgive us for reacting in spite and blame. The children on the other end of the pain are Yours, too. You created them and You love them just as much as You love us and our children. Forgive us for forgetting that.
Help us to do what is not within our normal inclination. On behalf of our children, through Your Spirit who dwells within us from the moment we believe in Jesus, give us the strength to be compassionate and kind in unjust situations. Focus our gaze on Your Son, and the sacrifice He chose to make for us.
Jesus understands what it’s like to be bullied. Questioned and ridiculed for who He was His entire walk on this earth, and beaten to death in the most brutal way possible. By His death on the cross, He endured more physical and emotional pain than we will ever be asked to bear by our loving God. Christ took on the weight of the entire world’s sin. By name, He knew us. By name, He forgave us… long before we breathed earthly air.
Jesus died for the bully and the bullied. He left us instructions to pray for our enemies. Just as He did in His last breath on the cross. “Father, forgive them… for they know not what they do.”
Father, it’s hard to see our children hurt. Guide us to act swiftly in their defense when they are in danger physically, and compassionately remind them of who they really are when their soul’s are under attack. We are promised that “in this world we will have trouble,” and that’s no more evident than amongst a crop of elementary-aged children hurling mean insults at another child… or our own child.
Sometimes, the very definition of friendship is confused by bullying. When our children are hurt by their very own friends, help us to seek Your counsel and guidance as we lead them in forming godly friendships. Bless our children with friendships that honor You, and help them to be loving and loyal friends to others.
Bless and protect our children’s hearts and minds. By the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us to recall Your Word, may we have Truth on the tips of our tongues to remind our kids what You say about them. May they always know that You love them, and that they are Yours. Stir their hearts to hear Your call on their lives early, and may their steps follow fast after You all of their days.
Help us to remember to pray for our enemies. To pray for the bullies. Bless those that harbor malice and anger in their hearts, treating others as less than what they are… Your beautiful creation. Search their hearts for hurt and call them back to You. Love their hurt away.
Father, parenting is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Help us, Jesus. Guide us through this maze of raising a child that is God-fearing, God honoring, and Christ following. Beyond our mistakes and inabilities, we know that You chase after our children. Praise You, that it’s not all up to us. Bless our feet to walk out our calling as parents, and our children to hear Your voice above all others… ours and the bullies. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Meg Bucher writes about everyday life within the love of Christ on her blog, http://sunnyand80.org. “Mom” is the most important calling on her life, next to encouraging others to seek Him first… authentically. A dance mom, occasional substitute teacher, and youth worship leader, she can often be found having some kind of an adventure in the small little lake town she resides in with her husband of ten years, two daughters, and their doodle-dog.
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