Have you ever considered how amazing it is to be made in God’s image? And not only you but also your child?

Psalm 139:14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. (New American Standard Bible)

King David wrote this remarkable song. The whole song is about an amazing God who knows everything about us. Take a moment and read through the psalm, and you hear David’s amazement that God knows all the details of our lives. God not only knows our present state and future (139:17-18), he knows each of us intimately. He has since before we were born (139:16). He is the one who put into place the program and materials that wove everything together.

Have you ever watched one of those videos of a baby developing in the womb? Check this one out on YouTube or this video. If you are like David and meditate on how God skillfully made us, you might also ask, How in the world does this happen? The wonder and awe he experienced practically took his breath away. Probably not unlike watching a world-famous magician perform a seemingly impossible feat. One of the key points of this psalm is that God is awesome in a take-your-breath-away fashion. God is powerful, in command, and providential. How God fashions a person is one remarkable example of that. And God makes each one of us (Job 10: 8-9; 31: 15; Ps 119: 73; 139: 15; Prov. 22: 2; Is 27: 11; 43: 7).

Another significant point of this psalm is that God knows you profoundly, values you immensely, and loves you incredibly. This motivates David to say even thinking God’s thoughts is beyond comprehension (139:17), yet when he wakes up, he is still with God and God is with him. It also moves David to declare, “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well” (NASB). What he proclaims also pertains to you and your children. You are fearfully made. What God has done and what you have become is worthy of reverence and immense respect. The fact that you are God’s human, fashioned by God’s hands, is incredible. You are also wonderfully made, which means that God accomplished something that seems impossible to do. That fact is hard to wrap our minds around because it’s so extraordinary.

What does this great insight have to do with parenting? Quite a bit, as we will see. To accept that this applies to us as adults might be easy to understand. However, to think that this also applies to our children may be harder to consider. Have you ever thought about that? God tells us we are worthy of high regard. Such is no less true with preborns, infants, toddlers, children, tweens, and teens. Parents and children have innate integrity because we are fearfully and wonderfully created. We also have integrity because God made us in his image (more on this in a moment). Expecting honor from our children is legitimate, but having respect for each one of our children is equally appropriate. As Clay Clarkson wrote, “When you honor your children’s value in God’s eyes, you also extend His grace to them” (P. 184) How we see our children is the key to how we interact with them. So, when it comes to parenting, let us start at this place of understanding that our children are first and foremost highly valued because they are made in God’s image.

- Dr. Don