Living Out Your Authority as a Mom

Living out your authority as a mom in humility before God means that you have faith in God to work out the details in your children’s lives.

Have you read the story about the centurion in Luke 6 recently? He was a man of tremendous authority.

I want to challenge you today to culture humility that allows God to work in your children’s lives the way this man demonstrated, through his faith.

First, let’s take a look at the passage.

Digging Deeper: Luke 7:1-10

Key Verses: For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:8)

When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Luke 7:9)

Living Out Your Authority as a Mom in Frustration

We have the ‘right’ as a mom to have authority over our children, right?

We can tell them what to do and they have to do it.

End of story!

BUT . . . sometimes the endless demands of motherhood can become way too much for us and we end up barking out our orders to them just because they have to obey us.

Ask me how I know?!

It can be really hard to be a mom. It is especially hard if one (or more) of your kids fall into a category that brings some sort of difficulty for you. Whether their behavior is out of control, potty training is draining you, or the demands on your life as a whole are way-over-the-top.

It can be very frustrating.

I have been there and wish I had some encouragement during those years. I felt so alone in my struggles.

Let’s see how the centurion in this passage trusted and had faith in Jesus to heal his servant.

A Look at the Centurion’s Humility

I love how Luke tells stories throughout this gospel.

We connect with stories and they help us to respond to God’s teaching for our lives.

This story starts off with Jesus entering the town of Capernaum (Luke 7:1).

There was a centurion who was very dear to Jesus. In the Roman Empire, a centurion is a man who had 100 men under his authority. He was well off and had servants. One of these servants was so sick that he was about to die.

As a Roman soldier, this centurion was also a Gentile. He seems to be a devout, kind, and humble man who cared about his servant. He was an instrument of the Roman oppression of the Jews. (Luke 7:2)

The interesting thing was that a Roman soldier had the right to kill a servant. If the servant (or slave) became sick or injured to the point that he could not work, it was expected that he would have him put to death. This makes it even more amazing that the centurion cared about him.

We can see how humble the centurion was because he did not see himself as worthy of coming to Jesus personally. He sent friends to Jesus asking Him to heal his servant.

He also might have thought that Jesus would not have wanted to meet him because he was a Gentile.

You can go to Jesus directly with your burden. You don’t have to send a representative like the centurion did. Jesus cares so deeply for you and longs to take you under His wings and comfort and guide you.

You can approach Jesus in humility just like the centurion and lay your situation before the Lord.

A Look at the Centurion’s Authority

Maybe the centurion wanted to save Jesus from coming to his house because Jews did NOT enter a Gentile’s house.

The centurion fully understood that Jesus’ ability to heal was not because of some mystical power. Instead, he knew that Jesus had true authority to heal totally outside of His physical presence with the dying servant. (Luke 1:6-8)

The centurion shows great faith in Jesus’ word. He knows that Jesus can heal just as much with His word and with His touch.

The centurion drew a comparison to his authority over those 100 men under him and to Jesus.  He understood the military chain of command. He could give a command and his orders would be unquestionably obeyed. In the same way, he knew that Jesus could give ‘the word’ and it would be done and his servant would be healed.

Living Out Your Authority as a Mom in Humility

One thing I learned in raising our children was that things said in the wrong spirit bring undesired responses.

We have the authority to expect that our children obey us unquestionably, just like the centurion did. Somehow raising kids doesn’t work out like it does in the military.

We all make mistakes and we can’t usually go back and change them.

This is where walking in the Spirit will make all the difference.

Raising kids isn’t like the military. They are souls needing the grace of Jesus and His salvation. Our years raising our children is a relationship building time. They will one day be gone and our influence is only for a short season.

If you think that there is a long time before your cute 3-year-old will be grown, ask any mother who’s kids are grown if the time went fast or slow!

So, my advice is to walk in humility because you can’t do this parenting-thing on your own. You need Christ to live through you!!

Does Your Relationship with Your Children Need Healing?

Jesus physically healed the centurion’s servant (Luke 1:8-10) and in the same way, He can heal damaged relationships with your children.

Living out your authority in humility is strengthened when you do everything in the power of the Holy Spirit to rebuild broken relationships with your children.

Ultimately it is up to your children to accept Jesus into their hearts and life. You can trust God to do the work but you must remember that your child has a free will.

Jesus can heal your aching heart over whatever issues are weighing on you today. Have faith just like the centurion and live out your life in humility.

Did this speak to your heart today? I’d love for you to share how this spoke to you below in the comments.