Christa Threlfall

How the Gospel Applies to Your #MomFails

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by

Christa
in ,

The blue light from my phone glowed in the dark hotel room: 6:03 AM.

I had gone to bed at a decent time, so I should have woken up rested. Except I didn’t. The reason I didn’t sleep well lay in the room with me: four reasons to be precise. Those four reasons are also known as my four children.

There was a lot of activity in the night—crying, coughing, tugging the shared blanket away from their sibling, etc. As a result, I felt a little bit like a jack-in-the-box, snuggling under the warm covers only to drag myself out of bed at the next yelp or coughing fit. When another disobedience issue came up, I lashed out at my children in anger and frustration.

That’s why I felt terrible this morning. Not just because of the interrupted sleep, but due to my failure from the night before. I woke up feeling like a 100% loser. The day is ruined and it’s barely even begun. I am the worst mom with zero self-control. Out of habit, I wanted to read my Bible, but I felt guilty and totally undeserving of God’s help.

 

Then God reminded me of the Gospel.

My husband recently finished a series on this topic. Throughout it, he kept reminding us that our ability to have a relationship with God is not dependent on our works, but on the work Jesus did on the cross.

My worth is not in my parenting abilities or self-discipline. I do not have favor with God based on how patient I am or how many days it’s been since I got angry at my kids. I have favor with God because of what he has done for me through Jesus. My sins are covered with Christ’s blood.

 

How does the Gospel apply to my mom fails?

The Gospel teaches me that…

  • I do not need to have perfect obedience in order to approach God’s throne for help. God graciously and freely offers me help based on Christ’s perfect obedience. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
  • God has covered my failure with the blood of Jesus. I find forgiveness and cleansing when I confess my sins to him. (1 John 1:9)
  • I can respond to my failures with the humility of Christ (not hiding from them, pretending they didn’t happen, or arrogantly assuming I was in the right) and ask those I have wronged for forgiveness. (1 John 1:8, James 5:16)
  • God will continue to work in my heart and change me to be like Jesus. Though I’ll never have perfect obedience in this life, I can strive for it by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Philippians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 2 Peter 3:18)

 

Remembering how the Gospel applies to my failure, I opened my Bible and began reading. I asked for God’s help in the day ahead, especially since I was feeling low on sleep and sanity. When my kids woke up, they piled on my bed and we read the Bible together. I asked them to forgive me for my anger. We prayed together. And then we put on our swimming clothes and headed to the hotel pool.

Another day, another mom fail. It wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last.

But because of the power of the Gospel, I don’t have to defend it or beat myself up over it. Instead, I confess it. And through the power of Christ’s blood, I receive forgiveness and grace right in the middle of my failure. What a Savior.