It seems obvious, but to really dive into Kingdom Parenting, we need to look at the parents.
To truly grow in this call, I believe the secret is found in the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:36-39
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself
The Kingdom secret is subtle here: the measure in which you love yourself is the measure in which you love others. Therefore, the ability to be a Kingdom Parent to others, the ability to love others, the ability to genuinely care for others… lies in your ability to love yourself. But I’m not talking about a fake love like positive talk (I think I can, I think I can) – I’m talking about a divine love for self.
Let us look at the ultimate Kingdom Parent – Jesus Christ. He is the full measure of loving others – He showed us what it means to love – there is no greater love to lay your down for one another – Jesus did so – He did so while we were still enemies. I have a hard time laying my life down for the ones I love – to my enemies? No chance! But Jesus. The mature son, the ultimate Kingdom Parent – He did it.
But how can this man love others so much that even on the cross, He says, “Father, forgive them – for they know not what they do”! Jesus loved others because He knew Himself, He loved Himself!
Jesus ALWAYS talked to himself about himself. He never let self doubt from the outside, shake His understanding of who He is. They called Jesus Beelzebub, full of demons, a deceiver! Yet, Jesus always responded correcting them on who He really was: I AM the bread of life, the Good Shepherd, the Truth, The Lamb, etc
People will always label and tell you who you are, but Jesus knew who he was.
When you know you are royalty (King/Queen), everything increases in value. The dwelling place of royalty is a palace, but when the royalty no longer calls it home – it is no longer a palace. A palace is simply a house, but a house becomes a palace when royalty lives in it. Royalty does not need a castle to be royalty. A castle needs royalty to be a palace.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Your body is a holy temple not because you work out, not because you have a PHD. Your body is a temple because the Holy Spirit moved in the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Your body without the Holy Spirit is simply dirt. But when the royalty – the Spirit – moves in, it becomes a Holy Temple.
When you walk into your workplace, you make your workplace a royal office
When you enter your car, you make your car a royal transport
When you enter your home, you make your home a palace
When you pour into others, raise them, care for them, you are not just a parent, you are a Kingdom Parent
Love yourself because of the One who lives in you – the one in you that is greater than the one who lives in this world.
You are not a Kingdom Parent because you are a better person than the person beside you – you are a Kingdom Parent because the Holy Spirit is inside of you.
As Kingdom Parents, our primary responsibility is to Love God. This will teach us to love Self which will in turn cause us to Love Others. Kingdom Parenting is all about loving others – about Genuine Care for Others.
Kingdom Parenting is not about us – it is all about Him. When we decrease and He increases we become a little bit more like Jesus – the ultimate Kingdom Parent.