Grace

I once represented a woman who deserved no more chances from the court. She had been given several chances to do the things she should do and she had failed. Yet, to my surprise, the court granted her one more chance. I represented her, I was the one person in her corner and even I had grave doubts that she deserved another chance.

God gives us another chance and another chance. Rather than judge us as we deserve, rather than mete out the justice we have earned, the Lord calls us back, back into the fold again and again. Through his loving kindness he reaches out to pull us close again after we wander away.

If the Lord can bring himself to this act of mercy and grace for each of us, then certainly we must do the same for our children. They make mistakes. We are required to correct the mistakes but then we can move forward. We need to stop looking back. It is easy to return to the mistakes they have made and harp on them. To remind them of what happened before, point out where we were right, assure that they never forget their errors.

When a child returns to you with an “A” on a spelling test, to respond by saying, “You see you do much better on a spelling test if you work on the words every day rather than on the bus the morning of the test,” isn’t encouraging. Instead it is reminding the child, once again, of how wrong they were and how right we were. God doesn’t seem to set that example for us. That is not the lesson Christ brings to us. We are not conditionally brought back into the fold. Rather, as in the parable of the prodigal son, there is great rejoicing when we turn from what is wrong and do what is right. There is no scolding in the prodigal son, no belittling, no “joking” about what a terrible mistake he made. It wasn’t the topic of conversation at every Thanksgiving dinner. (“Well, we all know somebody who slept with the pigs.” Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) Once he had learned his lesson, his father moved on to celebrate his son's new found wisdom and welcomed him back with loving kindness.

It is only with godly wisdom that we can hold our tongues and not belittle or unduly scold our children. In remembering the many undeserved second chances and loving kindness that has been shown to us, through Christ, is it possible to conform our own behavior so that we wisely lead our children while simultaneously modeling the grace which is daily extended to us.

Blessings,
Michelle