Fill in the blank: “I’m a bad mom because ___________.”
I’m sure your answer is different than mine. And I’m sure your answer varies based on all sorts of things.
I’m a bad mom because…
- My baby doesn’t sleep like she “should.”
- I didn’t read to my kids today.
- I weaned before a year.
- I’m still nursing my four-year-old.
- My kids eat cereal for breakfast.
- My kids didn’t eat breakfast!
I remember mom-guilt gnawing away at me when our second was two weeks old. I ran an errand with her and felt judged for taking her out of the house. Then I ran an errand alone and felt guilty for leaving my kids with my mom. Later, I realized how ridiculous that was. No one said anything. No one even knew.
The list of things that make us feel like bad moms is endless. Most of the reasons we see ourselves as failures don’t have to do with our sin. Most of them are arbitrary standards.
If we just ask “says who?” when mom-guilt rises, we’ll find one of two things. Either our guilt is real because we really did sin, in which case, Jesus’ blood covers it, or our “guilt” is based on false standards of what a “good mom” is, and we can let it go. Either way: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The Sorrows of Eve 