The Myth of the Perfect Family

In this new series about parenting teens, Russ and friends discuss the myth of the perfect family.

Many of us become parents with preconceived notions of what a family should be like, or what constitutes “normal.” It’s important to get spiritual perspective about family because when we compare ourselves to others, get self-piteous, or lose sight of what God’s doing we become discouraged.

We are living in a time when the pandemic has affected young people’s mental health tremendously, so it is crucial that we as parents deal with our own minds and hearts in order to understand our kids’ hearts. Join us as we delve into how not to be perfect parents, but to be parents that love and help our kids grow.

References:

• biblical definition of perfection
• Perfect Enough: Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett Packard
• Brady Bunch
• The Waltons
• The Jeffersons
• The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of adolescents and youth
• Making Caring Common Project
• Breaking Up with Perfect: Kiss Perfection Good-Bye and Embrace the Joy God Has in Store for You
• Parenting a Teen Who Has Intense Emotions: DBT Skills to Help Your Teen Navigate Emotional and Behavioral Challenges
• How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk
• Born to Be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks, and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe
• Your Defiant Child, Second Edition: Eight Steps to Better Behavior
• Close by Marvin Sapp

Now when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go back to my own place and to my own country. [26] Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.” [27] But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay with me; for I have learned [from the omens in divination and by experience] that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” [28] He said, “Name your wages, and I will give it [to you].” [29] Jacob answered him, “You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattle and sheep and goats, have fared with me. [30] For you had little before I came and it has increased and multiplied abundantly, and the LORD has favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household?”

Genesis 30:25-30 AMP

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:8 NIV

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4 NIV

What you learn from your parents will bring you honor and respect, like a crown or a gold medal.

Proverbs 1:9 ERV

Then you will say, “Why didn’t I listen to my parents? Why didn’t I pay attention to my teachers? I didn’t want to be disciplined. I refused to be corrected.

Proverbs 5:12 ERV

When you walk about, they (the godly teachings of your parents) will guide you; When you sleep, they will keep watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.

Proverbs 6:22 AMP

Your parents give you commands and teachings that are like lights to show you the right way. This teaching corrects you and trains you to follow the path to life.

Proverbs 6:23 ERV

We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously.

1 Corinthians 10:13 TPT

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Ephesians 1:11 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. [5] They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” [6] But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. [7] And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

1 Samuel 8:4-7 NIV