Have I been replaced?

Have I been replaced? Divorced and the single parent


Most newly divorced men come to the realization that their new life as a divorced dad comes with a consequences. As a father you start feeling you will be replaced in your kids eyes. You and your ex-wife will move on and begin new relationships. In this case, I am talking about my own personal experience and how I felt like I was being replaced as a father.  As i sat and reflected about the way i was feeling i realized it was selfish on my end. I had to take a look at my own situation. That I was in a relationship and now I saw through the eyes of my ex wife and what she may have gone through. It is very easy to only think about yourself in this situation and not think about your ex spouse. God calls us to watch out on being selfish. selfishness is something that will chew you up and spit you out. As a Dad you start thinking how you going to loose your kids to this other man. Its hard enough to share your daughters with a guy that they are dating now you have to share them with someone else. As a person of course you do want happiness for you ex even when sometimes you don’t want to see it, then you have to realize your making it about you and not the other person. Just as there mom will never be replaced by another woman you as a dad you have to remember that you will never be replaced. This is why it is important to keep a good line of communication with your kids and allow them to know you are there for them at anytime.  As i sat here and thought about this for the past couple of days God continues to work on me about my selfishness.

One thing I have learned is this. The secret to freedom from slavery to selfish ambition is to keep looking to Jesus. When our focus is on ourselves and each other we will begin to compare and compete, which leads us into a black hole of demonic evil (James 3:14-15). But looking to Jesus reminds us that we have nothing that we haven’t received through him(1 Corinthians 4:7). Past and future, world with out end, all is God’s grace toward us in Christ. Looking to Jesus reminds us that loving and serving each other just as Jesus has loved and served us is the path to full joy ( John 15:11-12).

We will have to fight against selfish ambition as long as we live in this fallen state because it’s right at the core of our fallen nature. Our sinful desire to be like God (Genesis 3:5) and pursue other’s worship. We don’t need to feign shock when we see it in ourselves(as if we’re surprised that we’re selfish!) and, like Jesus,we should be patient when we see it in others.

Looking away from ourselves to Jesus is the key to walking in joyful freedom from selfish ambition. Because God designed us to be satisfied with Jesus’s glory, not our own.