10 Ways to Model Christ’s Love in Your Parenting

1. Talk about How Much God Loves Them

Talk to your kids about God and how much he loves them. Explain to them he knew them while they were still in your stomach (or in mommy's stomach) and that he made them in his image.

Explain to them how much God loves them even more than you do and how God wants to be their friend and help them or come into their heart and be their savior, depending on the child's age and their understanding. Look up Bible verses and stories about Jesus and children that show how much he loves them.

2. Teach Them Right From Wrong

This is so incredibly important. There are so many kids who don't know right from wrong. I know this from being in and out of daycare over the years. Kids steal from each other, get into fights, mess in each other's belongings, get physical with their teachers, etc. Behavior problems run rampant. Parents need to teach their children right from wrong and how to handle different situations. Children need boundaries and have consequences for their behavior.

Proverbs 23:13-14 says, "Don't fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won't kill them. Physical discipline may well save them from death." (NLT)

3. Parent with Unconditional Love

You can help your child know the love of Jesus by parenting with unconditional love. One way to show this is to explain to them after disciplining them, you still love them the same. It doesn't mean that you excuse poor behavior.

As a former daycare teacher, I had a lot of rowdy boys in my classes that would get into trouble. One day, after being corrected for his behavior, a boy named Jackson came over to me and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Carrie. Do you still love me?" I always used to tell them, "I don't always like what you do, but I will always love you." This is how Jesus loves us, too. He doesn't always like what we do or the choices we make, but he always loves us.

You can show your children unconditional love by doing the same. Still, no one is perfect, and when you mess up as a parent (and you will; everyone does), apologize and explain to your child that you want to do better. Then, strive to do it. Remind your children that you and Jesus will always love them, no matter what.

4. Talk about How Sin Affects Relationships

Explain with your child, what sin and how it affects relationships. Let them know that lying or disobeying makes it hard for you to trust them and know they will do the right thing.

Also, explain how sin affects our relationship with God, too. Explain to them that a minor sin can lead to a big sin, which causes us to do more damaging behavior. This continues to hurt us and everyone around us. Explain that we need to confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness, which will help our relationship with him grow stronger.

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5. Create a Culture of Forgiveness

In addressing confessing sin and forgiveness, make sure you cultivate a culture of forgiveness at home. When you make a mistake, explain how it affects your relationship, ask for forgiveness, and explain that asking for forgiveness helps mend our relationships and make them better.

Also, explain how when we make mistakes, the Lord doesn't kick us out of his family even though our sin hurts our relationship with him. Instead, when we confess our sins to God, he forgives us, wipes out our unrighteousness, forgives us, and restores our relationship, which causes us to sin less.

6. Show Up and Be Faithful

Showing up for your kids and being faithful is very important. Do what you say you are going to do. If you say you're going to show up to watch baseball practice, do it. Did you promise to make it to the band recital? Do it. Try not to make promises to your kids that you can't keep.

However, sometimes life gets in the way, and you can't get out of work on time, or that meeting you are in runs extra late. If this happens, call your spouse as soon as you're done and let them know (if you have little ones). If you have older kids or teenagers who have phones, call or text them personally to let them know you can't make it and explain why.

Overall, do your best to show up, be faithful, and do what you say you will do. Explain to your children that God will show up for them no matter what and that you do your best to model that loyalty to your kids. This will help them understand you are trying, even though you may not make it every single time.

7. Give Them Jesus

Teach them about Jesus's love. You can do this by buying them a kids' Bible and reading a story with them every night. Turning on biblically-based entertainment that is age appropriate to help them understand God better. Buying them age-appropriate books about Bible stories is also a great way to incorporate Jesus into their lives. Teach them how to pray and explain that talking to God is like talking to a friend.

8. Love Your Spouse

Loving your spouse is one of the most important things you can do for your children. So many kids grow up in broken homes where the parents are always fighting or worse.

Showing your children that you love your spouse by treating him or her well, speaking well of them, and doing nice things for them will speak volumes to your kids. They watch everything you do and will learn how to treat the opposite sex from watching you.

Even if you and your spouse aren't getting along or are having an argument, be mindful of how you act, treat, and speak to each other. Keep your issues to yourselves, and don't discuss them around the kids. Don't speak ill of each other around them. Keep it to yourself and work it out in private behind closed doors.

9. Empathize with Them

If your kids are struggling with something, empathize with them. Let them know you understand what they are going through and you've been there yourself. If you haven't been in a similar situation, show them some empathy regardless and let them know you are doing your best to understand where they are coming from.

Kids deal with a lot of different issues these days that you didn't have to deal with as a kid. For example, cyber bullying, social media addiction, extreme peer pressure, etc. If there is a situation your child is going through that you're not sure how to handle, do some online research via trusted Christian organizations about how to deal with things, or even talk to a licensed Christian counselor to help sort things out.

Always show your kids empathy and do your best to help them when they need you.

10. Sow Into Your Kids

We sow Christ into our lives daily by reading the Bible, praying, and listening to contemporary Christian, gospel, or worship music. This helps us lead a more godly life and to be more like Him.

We should sow into our children the same way. Put aside some time each week or on the weekend to spend one-on-one time with your kids. If you have several, choose one day for each child. For example, I will spend Monday evening playing basketball with Kyle. On Tuesday night, Katie and I will watch a movie together. Wednesday evening, I will hang out with Tyler. Then, on Friday or Saturday night, we will watch a movie or play games together as a family.

You should also teach them lessons about life and how to handle different situations. Teach them how to do things so they have various skills they can use in life. This will help them develop into more well-rounded children.

Teaching your children about God and modeling his love is important as a Christian parent. By doing so, you will help introduce your children to Christ, encourage their relationship with him, teach them how to deal with different situations, and help them become more well-rounded people. Take some time to model Christ's love in your parenting and be a great example today.