12 Ways Daily Bible Reading Helps Christian Homeschool Moms Stay Patient With Their Children

Raising children is hard work.

Between all of the toy clutter, kitchen or bathroom messes, sickness, having to repeat ourselves 100 times, sibling arguments and everything else that kids bring, most days can begin to feel more like 3 days rolled into one.

Add to that the decision to homeschool and well, it can be said that you're officially riding the crazy train.

Funny thing is that you probably wouldn't have it any other way because behind the hard stuff is the beautiful, meaningful stuff.

You know, the golden rewards kind of stuff.

The sweet hugs, the goopy kisses, the million dollar smiles that instantly brighten your day, and the twinkle in their eyes when you know that they finally understand something important that you taught them.

Oh and there's more, the mud pies, the weird drawings, the misshapen crafts, and later, the late night conversations because they want your advice on something they are going through.

Yes, raising children and teaching them is hard work, but it has a far reaching impact that also has massive eternal value.

What we must remember though, is that our level of impact as moms, and its reach, are very much tied to our level of calm and patience when responding to both the good and hard things that pop up each day.

Responding to our children with impatience, angry attitudes or yelling can cause damage in both our children and our relationship with them.

Unfortunately, the damage doesn't usually shows its fruit until way later. Many times, long after the opportunity to really make it right has already disappeared.

I don't want that for you so I'm going to share with you 12 ways that daily Bible reading has helped me and can help encourage you to be a calm and patient mom...more often than not.

1. It Renews Your Strength for the Day

The Lord's mercies are new every morning and so is the strength that he supplies for the day.

Quiet time spent with God in prayer and bible reading provides you with fresh energy for all the tasks ahead, and also spiritual strength which can help you approach your children with more patience and grace.

2. It Gives You Greater Emotional Capacity & Control

When we start the day with God, unloading all of our cares and burdens on him, we are then free to walk through out our day with less emotional baggage.

Without all the heavy burdens and baggage to carry, we can then process our own emotions easier, which helps to reduce the likelihood of reacting impulsively or with frustration when our children misbehave or require more care from us.

3. It Increases Your Peace

I could be wrong but I don't believe that it is ever possible to leave the presence of God without also walking away with peace that surpasses understanding.

Peace feels like a quiet stillness of your soul, it calms your mind and heart, allowing for more grace-filled interactions and connections with your children.

4. You Gain Sharper Clarity & Renewed Motherhood Perspective

This is huge for us moms.

Often times we can get so wrapped up in disciplining our kids for poor behavior, that we forget to look at the heart issue behind the poor behavior.

Daily bible reading gives us clarity by showing us the victories and failures of those who have gone before us, helping us to see our own children’s struggles and challenges from a more compassionate, grace-filled perspective.

This in turn encourages deeper learning and long lasting growth vs. a short term change in behavior only.

5. It Encourages Stronger Dependence on God’s Wisdom

Time spent in daily prayer and scripture reading reminds us of how much better the Lord's ways are than our own.

God knows the heart and path of our children much better than we ever could, so seeking his wisdom for help with navigating difficult mothering moments, and learning to rely on his guidance rather than our own, is a true shortcut to success.

6. It Grows In Us the Fruit of the Spirit

Regular quiet time spent in bible reading and prayer helps to develop within us the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

We should want patience, kindness, and gentleness to naturally flow from our time spent in the Word, straight into our mothering.

7. It Reduces Overwhelm and Anxiety

What good mother does not fret over her children's safety, health or future?

Bringing our worries and concerns before God daily helps to release us from the burdening grip of overwhelm and anxiety.

If we don't leave those worries at the feet of Jesus then it can turn into stress, stress that often times ends up spilling over into precious time with our kids.

8. It Increases Our Ability to Model God’s Grace

Daily bible reading keeps us connected to the example that we have been called to model...Jesus.

Each day that we spend reading scripture compounds like interest and allows us to experience God’s grace personally, equipping us to extend that same grace to our own children in moments of frustration or disobedience.

9. It Makes Us More Consistent With Having Positive Reactions

Starting the day with God’s word helps to anchor us in truth and love, making it easier to respond with kindness and patience instead of reacting with harshness or negatively in rough situations.

Imagine the love and surprise that our children must feel when they are knowingly receiving grace from us instead of frustration or deserved discipline.

10. It Replenishes Our Emotional Reserves

Our role as wife, mother and homemaker requires that we daily pour ourselves out physically and emotionally.

Our habit of daily bible reading is the perfect opportunity to be filled and refilled by God, ensuring that we have the emotional reserves needed to mother our children well.

11. It Prepares Us For Unexpected Challenges

Each day is different, offering its own issues and unexpected challenges, but daily bible reading helps us develop patience and prepare for the unknown.

Our fallen world guarantees that we will face challenges but we are also guaranteed to face them with a calm and faithful demeanor if we choose to prepare by starting the day in the Word.

12. It Builds Stronger Family Relationships

When we grow more patient and calm through our daily quiet times, our interactions with our children improve, which helps to build deeper trust and stronger family bonds.

Strong family bonds and trust have been proven to help children follow a better path in life and I don't know a single mother that doesn't want that.

So In Conclusion

God uses our children to help refine us and reveal to us our constant need for his help.

He then uses us to train up and disciple our children for his glory and mission work, so we must keep in mind that just like our faith journey, our mothering is not a short sprint...it's the long mile.

Every day that we spend in God's Word and in prayer ultimately benefits us and everyone we encounter, especially our children who spend so much more time with us than anyone else.

Our children will not remember everything that we say to them, but they will remember how we made them feel and how we modeled what we taught them.

I sure hope that this list helps to remind you of the blessing that you can be to your children when you prioritize daily bible reading.

In closing, the next time that you are tempted to skip your bible reading, remember what your kids may miss out on, and run to the nearest bible.

For His Glory & In His Name,

- Christine