From Parent to Friend
- Barbara Fehr
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
“He has been teaching them, guiding them, caring for them, and preparing them, perhaps even parenting them.”
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:13-14
My oldest has been having a hard time in school with his classmates. We’ve spent after school moments recapping what’s been happening and trying to make a game plan for the next day, and morning commutes trying to fill up on encouragement, bible verses and Jesus truths. I really don’t know how to prepare him best for each day, outside of praying for and with him and reminding him of who he is in Jesus. And then I pray earnestly that Jesus takes it from there, because He loves my kiddo even more than I do.
In John 15, and the chapters surrounding it, Jesus is preparing His disciples for a difficult time ahead. He’s filling them up with all the truths that they will need, though they don’t seem to fully understand it all just yet. He’s reminding them who they are, and who He is.
Up until this point, Jesus has been called their master. They would not have been equivalent to friends. He has been teaching them, guiding them, caring for them, and preparing them, perhaps even parenting them. Now, they are gearing up to do this without His physical presence. Now, they are not servants, but friends. Friends who are ready and capable of carrying out the same mission.
Right now, for my children, we are not in a season of friendship (though I believe a solid foundation for future friendship is being built). We are in the season of preparation and parenting. Filling them up for the time when they won’t be living in my home anymore, when they will go out and do the things that God has planned for their lives. Even those moments before and after school with my oldest are preparing him for whatever it is God is going to do in his heart and life.
I look forward to the day of genuine friendship with my children, getting to fully live the mission of helping people find and follow Jesus alongside them as coworkers and siblings in Christ. Today is not that day, but we get to practice together what that will look like. Just like Jesus guided the disciples and lovingly prepared them for the mission ahead, He is preparing me and my children. And you and your children.
Action Steps:
Read Jesus’ prayer for the disciples in John 17. Read it as if it were personal just for those disciples, intended for the people who lived then. He’s praying for His children, filling them up, preparing them, encouraging them, and trusting that the Father will continue the work in them.
Spend time in prayer yourself, thanking God that you are His child, that He will fill you, prepare you, and encourage you. Pray for your children that you would be able to reflect the Father to them, and that you’ll be able to trust that your efforts will be multiplied by Him because He loves them more than you do.
Written by Barbara, a child of God and momma of 4