If someone were to tell you that your child needs love, you would probably nod in agreement and say, “well, of course they do.” But have you ever stopped for a second and thought about what that truly means? What does showing your child love really look like in the day-to-day grind of parenting? It looks like showing up in your child’s life consistently this week, next week, and the week after that.
Showing up in their lives looks different for each child. Still, it might look something like engaging in things your kid enjoys (yes, that means maybe playing video games from time to time), affirming them when you notice they do something good or staying up late to talk to your teen about things that are going on in their lives.
Showing up in their lives week after week demonstrates to your child that they are a priority to you. When they see consistently over time that they are a priority, it gives your child worth.
Worth is defined as the level at which someone or something deserves to be valued. Your child deserves to feel valued by the person that loves them the most, YOU!
When your child truly begins to believe that they have worth, they will start to love themselves. Kids need to learn to love themselves while they’re kids so they can love themselves in a healthy way when they are adults.
But, remember, this doesn’t happen overnight. The key is building a sense of worth over time. Love is like investing. It gains shares. The sooner you start paying in, the greater the return will be later. The longer you wait, the less you earn. Simply put, deposits in someone’s life as a child will earn more interest. When you wait until they are adults, the gains are just slower. So begin as early as possible, but it is never too late. (Parenting Through the Phases)
So what does this look like for you and your child? Well, we can’t answer that question. But we can give you a couple of questions to consider as you think about building a sense of worth in your child over time.
What are the ways you are already showing up consistently to show your child you love them over time?
Are there things you need to change to ensure you show up consistently in your child’s life week after week? Sometimes this will look like saying yes to your child a little more.
Now, go show up in your child’s life today (and the day after and the day after that)!
*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.*
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