Wisdom for wayward children

I guess there are many things we can fear for our children, like getting into a nasty accident. However, the dread I want to focus on may in fact be a lot worse. That is the dread of a disobedient child. The child who is out of control, who pours shame not only on themselves but on all those around them. The child who not only ruins their own life but draw others into the same folly. 

The Word of God speaks in at least two directions on this issue. 

1. Wisdom for parents

Firstly and primarily God speaks to parents. Creation itself reminds us that the God-given agent for raising children is a team of husband and wife who in accordance with God's wisdom seek to train up a child in the way they should go. Remove one of those ingredients, and the job of raising a child becomes more difficult and can put the child at risk. 

The rejection of God seriously hinders the wisdom needed to raise children, while the breakdown of the husband/wife team damages the delicate balances of a child’s need for security and significance. The loss of either can affect loving discipline, key models for relationships, a person’s view of their own sexuality, issues of faith and much more.  

When parents abdicate their responsibility to love their God, their spouse or their child, the potential for a child's delinquency is seriously increased. A parent who forgets the accountabilities that come with their very creation, is a parent who dooms the creation to hardship and suffering. The Bible makes very clear that God holds parent’s accountable for the way they conduct their homes. So in the circumstances you currently find yourself, love your children by first honouring God.

2. Wisdom for children

The second direction that the Bible speaks is toward the child. All of us should take note now, for we are all the children of someone. Some children are delinquent not through any fault of the parents, but because they simply reject the God of their parents and despise their parents' godliness, and all their attempts to loving discipline and guide. It's a rebellion that if continued, will reap the whirlwind of God's justice. God never allows rebellion to continue and on the last day, suffers no excuses. Every person must eventually submit to God’s rule. That submission is the correct outworking of being a child of the God and results in joyous living.

Rebel parents and rebel children need to humbly turn to God for forgiveness and offer their lives back to God in loving obedience. In the turning, you will find a Father who sent an obedient Son whose name is Jesus. The Son whose obedience took him to the cross on which He died as a substitute for the rebellion of others. The Son who guaranteed to every wayward individual, parent or child, help for changing, forgiveness for the past and the love of God forever.  

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