Serving Your Kids with Love Every Day ❤️

Last Updated on December 13, 2024 by Andrea

I’ve talked about showing our kids we love them before. Today I want to talk about how we can serve in love. Serving our kids does not make us their maid. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve told my kids, “I’m not your maid” a time or two. Yet our children, older kids and young kids, need to know that serving others begins at home. The needs of others are important and it’s our job to put others before ourselves.

Serving Our Kids

Yet it’s possible to serve others without being their maid.

One way we show others we love them is by serving them.

Jesus came to serve, not be served. If HE can serve, so can we. The best way we can show someone love is to reflect God’s love. That’s true for a family member as well as a friend or neighbor.

What does this look like with our kids? We certainly don’t want them to think our sole job is to wait on them hand and foot. Yet we can serve them in other ways.

Before I list ways to serve, let’s look at the bigger picture.

Creating Intentional Moments of Connection

We serve in the bigger picture by paying attention to the needs of others. We can engage in meaningful conversations, shared activities, and bedtime rituals. Anything we do in a meaningful way can serve someone else. Acts of service is one of the five love languages (including physical touch, quality time, gifts, and words of affirmation).

When we are intentional we are acting with purpose in a meaningful way. Our marriages and our parenting are all improved when we make intentionality a goal. Serving others, meeting them where the needs of others are, is a great way to be intentional.

Teaching Through Actions, Not Just Words

Children learn more from what they observe than what they are told. Our daily actions are a powerful teaching tool that shapes their understanding of love, respect, and service. Here’s how you can intentionally teach through your actions:

Model Kindness and Compassion

• Show kindness in your interactions with others, whether it’s helping a neighbor, thanking a store clerk, or offering encouragement to a friend. These small ways of showing kindness act demonstrate to your children the value of caring for others.
• Treat your children with the same compassion, even when they’re challenging. Speak to them with patience and understanding, showing them how to handle conflict with grace.

Demonstrate Forgiveness

• When mistakes happen, whether they’re your own or your child’s, let forgiveness be a natural response. Apologize when you’re wrong, and forgive them when they falter. This teaches humility and the importance of mending relationships.

Show Commitment and Responsibility

• Follow through on promises and commitments, even in small things. When kids see you keeping your word, they learn the importance of trustworthiness and responsibility.

Practice Gratitude Daily

• Make gratitude part of your routine. Whether it’s thanking God during prayer or expressing appreciation for a meal, showing gratitude helps children develop a positive outlook and a thankful heart.
• Consider making a gratitude jar to keep a running demonstration of continued gratitude.
• There are lots of different ways to show we are grateful for someone, so be creative! Thanking our kids is important too!

Live Out Your Faith

• If faith is a central part of your family, let your kids see you live it out daily. Whether through prayer, reading the Bible, or acts of service, your actions can inspire their spiritual growth and teach them the value of a life rooted in faith.

By teaching through actions, you create a lasting impression that words alone cannot achieve. When your children see these values consistently modeled, they’re more likely to internalize and practice them in their own lives.

Meeting Emotional and Spiritual Needs

When we meet our childrens’ emotional and spiritual needs we are serving them well. When we spend time listening to what they have to say, as well as teaching them how to communicate their feelings, we are serving them as parents. We tend to their spiritual formation by helping them to understand Scripture in a simple way, depending on their age. Even letting them see you reading and studying your Bible is a good thing in terms of tending their spiritual needs. Teach them Bible stories, encourage them to act them out or retell the stories back to you. When our kids’ emotional and spiritual needs are met they are much more likely to want to contribute to the world around them with the whole family.

Serving Through Everyday Tasks with Joy

Everyday tasks, while often mundane or repetitive, provide countless opportunities to demonstrate love and care for your children. Approaching these responsibilities with the joy of a servant’s heart transforms them from routine chores into meaningful acts of service that your kids will remember and appreciate. When we do these chores with Christ’s love we are moving beyond the mundane to the holy. Here’s how to cultivate joy in these daily moments:

Shift Your Perspective

• Instead of viewing tasks like cooking, cleaning, or laundry as obligations, see them as ways to tangibly show love for your family. Remember, every meal prepared or shirt folded is a contribution to their well-being and comfort.

Infuse Fun and Connection

• Use everyday moments to bond with your kids. Turn cooking dinner into a team activity where everyone gets involved. Share jokes or stories during car rides to make the time feel special. If they are older, host a private version of ‘Chopped’ or some other cooking show game.

Create Rituals Around Routines

• Elevate ordinary tasks by turning them into cherished traditions. For example, make breakfast time an opportunity to pray together, or set a fun tone for school drop-offs with a unique goodbye ritual, like a secret handshake or favorite song.

Practice Gratitude During Tasks

• While folding clothes or preparing meals, take a moment to reflect on the blessings those tasks represent—a family to care for, a home to maintain, or the means to provide food. Gratitude fosters joy and helps reframe mundane duties into meaningful acts of unconditional love.

Acknowledge the Purpose of Service

• Remind yourself that serving through these tasks isn’t just about meeting physical needs. It’s also about creating a nurturing, stable environment where your children feel valued and secure. Remember small things go a long way.

Speak Positively About Your Work

• Avoid complaining about chores in front of your children. Instead, verbalize the joy you find in taking care of them, such as, “I’m so glad I can make your favorite breakfast today,” or “Helping you get ready for school is one of my favorite parts of the morning.”

Celebrate Small Wins

• Celebrate the small victories in daily life, like a clean room, a packed lunch, or completed homework. Showing pride in these achievements reinforces a positive outlook and teaches your kids the importance of finding joy in small successes.

Approaching everyday tasks with joy not only makes them more enjoyable for you, but it also sets a powerful example for your children. They’ll see that love isn’t just expressed in grand gestures but also in the quiet, consistent ways you care for them every single day.

We Can Serve By:

• ask our kids if they need help. Don’t assume they do. Often they will respond better if we ask. If they say they don’t need our help, then just let them know you are available for them.
• do something for them that you would normally expect them to do on their own. This one works best if your child is in a stressful or busy moment. Just take care of it for them. But don’t play the martyr about it. Simply do the task. If they ask about it later, it’s okay to tell them you saw they were stressed/overloaded/busy and wanted to help.
• avoid aggravating our children. No one likes being provoked. While expectations and consequences are appropriate parenting strategies, aggravating our children is never called for. See Colossians 3:21.
• be courteous. Taking your dishes to the kitchen after dinner? Grab your husband’s and kids too. It’s all one trip. I started doing this years ago and my kids now take ours to the kitchen if they are going that way first. And I never asked them to do it. Modeling the behavior we would like to see goes a long way. We can also be grateful as our act of being courteous. Be sure to thank your kids when THEY do something helpful.

This is just a quick list. Be creative and look for ways to serve your kids at home this week. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about our spouses!

Peace,

🌸 Andrea

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