Every Day Cross

7/5/2023

Written by: April Mills

I am the mother of two teenage daughters, and like many parents, I have developed certain tools over the years to nudge them in the right direction. You know the ones. You might employ THE LOOK, and your kids instantly know they are approaching the danger zone. Maybe you use their full name, or perhaps it’s a certain tone of voice, the volume of your voice, or the way you walk into room.

Whatever it may be, every parent has that one warning cue that tells their kid that they need to immediately shape up-or else. So, like you, I have a go to phrases I use to “inspire” my girls toward the appropriate behavior.

Jesus on the cross.

I clearly remember the day I first used this phrase on the girls. They were particularly fussy about chores I repeatedly asked them to do. They melted into the floor, gnashed their teeth and contorted their faces into looks of despair. They were full of “but I don’t want to” whines.

This went on for several minutes and then I was absolutely done. The whining was making my ears bleed, my nerves were frayed, and I had officially reached my limit. I threw up my hands in frustration and declared, “Jesus on the cross!”

That simple phrase immediately broke them out of their trance of self-pity, and caused looks of confusion to cross their faces. “What in the world are you taking about?!”, my youngest asked. My girls were used to being taught life lessons involving Jesus, but they weren’t quite used to the volume, and shall I say, agitation in my voice while saying the name of Jesus. I had their attention.

I reminded them that while Jesus suffered for our sins, he uttered no compliant. He obediently fulfilled the will of His Father.

“Yeah, but He was Jesus,” she said. At this, I could see I had to take it a step further.

You see, my girls were used to looking at Jesus’s divine side. They thought of Him as the One who helped the sick, cleansed the leper, and died for the salvation of mankind.

They needed reminded that Jesus had a human side, with real feelings, thoughts and emotions. He knew the suffering that lay before Him. He knew the pain He would soon endure.

We can read in Matthew 26:37 that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus became “to be “sorrowful and deeply distressed”. This illustrates the very human emotions Jesus was experiencing.

In Matthew 26:39, Jesus says, “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Even in His sorrow, and despair, He submitted to the will of His Father. I explained to my girls, Jesus didn’t “want” to suffer such brutality, but He did it to honor His Father and His Father’s will. He submitted to His Father’s divine plan, making Himself the ultimate sacrifice.

What does all this have to do with children who don’t want to do chores? Well, simply put, everything. You see, we are faced everyday with things we don’t want to do. Naturally, those things aren’t on the scale of the Cross.

However, as Christ followers, all things require submission. We either submit to our self and our own desires, or we submit to that which Christ requires of us. If I can imprint the image of Christ doing hard things (dying on a cross) in their minds as a weapon against their own will, then they will be armed their whole lives.

Friends, we have to be disciplined in our choices. We need to challenge ourselves to do hard things, say no to self, and make decisions that honor the cross.

My girls are older now, so the gnashing of teeth and melting into floor have subsided a bit. I still need to employ my go to phrase from time to time, though now there is a major difference. Instead of eye rolls for days, I am met with a quiet submission. They don’t always like it, but they make the choice to honor their mother and obey, which ultimately honors Christ.

Friend, I pray you don’t turn shield away from the mental picture of Jesus on the cross, but rather, you embrace it. I pray you allow it to mold and sculpt you into an image bearer of Christ. In all things, and in all ways, let all you do honor the Cross.