What Matters in Motherhood | Holly Furtick

I've shared with many of you before that as a child and even as a young woman, my highest aspiration was to be a mother. And somewhere along the way I built up this idea that the greatest thing that I could do with my life is to raise godly children. It's not a bad goal to have. So I got married and three years later, according to my plan, well, actually the three year part was my husband's plan, cause I wouldn't have kids right away. But three years later, I was pregnant with my first baby. And I was so excited. I read every book on baby care that was out there. I eventually moved on to parenting books and I created a plan in my mind for exactly how things were were going to go. Remember, I have a very good best case scenario, imagination. And I was ready, or I thought I was. I considered myself to be a qualified mother. And then I had a baby and that baby did nothing that the book said that he was supposed to do. And then that baby became a child. And I threw away all the parenting books because none of them seemed to be working. And so I came up with, with this plan in my mind, this idea that I thought, okay, if I stay home and I pack the lunches and I make cupcakes for the classroom and I read books to my kids at bedtime and I take them to church and I play worship music in the car, if I do all the right things, then my children will grow up to love Jesus and live for him. And then I entered the world of teenagers. And ever so gently, the Lord began to show me that my imaginary version of grow up to love Jesus and live for him. Although it's a great goal and although, yes, that is what I want for my children, the Lord began to show me that that idea was very much centered around my ego. How I wanted my imaginary best case scenario, adult children to be the fruit of a faithful, caring, godly, praying mother. And I neglected to realize that I'm raising human beings who are going to have to forge their own paths and make their own choices and form their own faith so that they can know Christ. And truly, all of the things that I thought mattered about motherhood really aren't the thing that mattered. Paul said, I consider everything a loss because what's important is knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. What I am learning to realize is that what will make the biggest difference in my children's life is that they have a mother who knows Christ. Everything flows from that. All along I thought what I do affects who they become. But Paul is teaching me and he's helping me to realize that who I know affects who they become, not what I do. What do you do when you realize that what you thought mattered isn't making you happy? It can be crushing. I know. I have felt that pain in so many areas of my life. When you thought, if I could just have this position or that relationship or that degree, and you got it, but you still felt unsatisfied. The art of contentment is about being able to identify this is what I thought mattered, but it's not bringing me joy. Because true joy comes from knowing Christ. I have to read you Paul's next words. He says, I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I already obtained this, he's saying, I haven't done it yet. He says, not that I've already obtained this or have already arrived in my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of for me. Brothers and sisters. I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying, this isn't something I've totally figured out. It's something that I'm choosing to focus on. And how we do that is we forget what is behind. We let go of what we thought would bring us joy and fulfillment, and we fix our focus on knowing Christ. And it's not that the thing, the dream, the achievement is necessarily going to disappear. When he says forgetting it, it's not that he wasn't still continuing to use those accomplishments. He's just saying it isn't the thing that drives you and defines you and fills you because it cannot fill you. Allowing our achievements to fill us is like eating garbage. It may temporarily satisfy, but. But eventually it's going to harm your body. It's gonna make you sick. Paul knew that the prize is not an achievement that we chase. The prize is a living, breathing relationship with the God of the universe who walks along beside us through our highs and through our lows. And he's with us and he's guiding us. That's the prize. The relationship is the thing. So the next time a feeling of disappointment wells up within you, because it will happen. It happens to everybody every day. Remember, Paul said, I have not mastered this. So understand if Paul hadn't mastered it, neither will you. The next time that you feel that feeling of disappointment coming on you let go and you lean in. Let go of the idea that you are holding so tightly to and lean in to the One who made you and listen for his voice. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 95 Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today if you will only hear hear his voice. The next time you feel that feeling just get yourself in front of God, turn on some worship music, pull out your Bible, let go of what you thought and lean in to who he is and listen for his voice. Hey thanks for watching. I hope that that encouraged you today. Make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss out on other videos like this and I'll see you back here next time.