I've watched this happen so often in the last few years
Feb 14, 2018 12:28:51 GMT -5
fearnot and Leigh like this
Post by Cindy on Feb 14, 2018 12:28:51 GMT -5
As Mothers, we love our children, and when they do something entirely against what we've taught them, and against the Lord, it breaks our hearts. We want to help them, but we also don't want to lose their love, or the possibility of seeing them. So when they begin to follow cults such as the mormons, or JW's, etc, or when they simply try to justify their sin, lining themselves up with others who say that the bible "doesn't really" say it's wrong, we're afraid to insist on speaking the truth to them. We're afraid they'll leave and not return to us. Sadly, I've seen the very thing that's feared happen, not because they spoke the truth to their child, but honestly, because they didn't. I've even warned some parents that this would happen hoping that they would realize the truth and begin to tell their child, but they didn't, and their fears became reality. It reminds me of what the Lord told the Israelites when they refused to believe that He would deliver the promised land to them and refused to fight for it. In Numbers 14:28–35 God tells them that because they refused to trust Him and even went so far as to say that if they obeyed their children would wind up as slaves to their enemies, that He would cause all of them to wander in the desert for 40 years until all of the adults were dead. He told them their children would suffer the wandering with them because of their refusal to obey, but that once they were all dead, their children, and not them, would enter the Promised Land. It's a very sobering passage to read and one we should take to heart.
When I've reflected on what's happening to many of our adult children and how so often the parents are afraid to speak the truth to them in love, it's also made me really think about what they've said to me - their fear that they would "lose" their child permanently. When I thought about it, I realized that Satan was having his way with them, because their fear made no sense logically. Which should be more important to us - whether or not we see our child regularly in this life while they are living as the enemy of God, or whether we might (and it's a big "might") not see them much in this life time, but will in fact spend eternity with them because we were brave enough to speak the truth to them? Thinking about that is when I realized that our real fear is that God won't honor us for obeying Him and won't hear or honor our heartfelt prayers, and that our child will continue to live as His enemy for the rest of their life and die unsaved. Again, it made me realize that it was our own faith that needed to be worked on, our own minds that needed to be renewed by God's Word.
I would like to add that I have seen situations where the parents did speak the truth in love to their adult child, and continued to do so every chance they got. Yes, it took years of them faithfully doing that and faithfully praying, but in the long run their adult child was in fact convicted of their sin, repented, and returned to the Lord and to the faithful love of their family as well. I'm in no way suggesting that what these families did was easy, it wasn't. But the wonderful truth that they realized by obeying the Lord was that when they took that first step of faith, the Lord Himself gave them the courage to continue, and the words and boldness to speak that truth in love. I've seen that over and over again in my life as well, that we have to take that first step, and after that, the Lord gives us all we need. That first step is rarely a large one. It's generally something like making the commitment to obey Him. In a situation like we've been talking about, the first step may be to simply open our mouths to begin to speak, trusting that God is with us. Because we do that, God in fact will give us the courage, boldness and words to speak.
Please, if your adult child has turned away from God and is doing something that you know is wrong, don't hesitate to tell them so. And if your children are still young, then study His word faithfully every day now, so that you'll have the faith and the words to speak if they're ever needed when they're older. Live your faith daily, showing them what it looks like to be a Christian; what it looks like to trust the Lord and obey Him daily. By doing that you will be showing them the truth of God's Word and not just telling them about it.
When I've reflected on what's happening to many of our adult children and how so often the parents are afraid to speak the truth to them in love, it's also made me really think about what they've said to me - their fear that they would "lose" their child permanently. When I thought about it, I realized that Satan was having his way with them, because their fear made no sense logically. Which should be more important to us - whether or not we see our child regularly in this life while they are living as the enemy of God, or whether we might (and it's a big "might") not see them much in this life time, but will in fact spend eternity with them because we were brave enough to speak the truth to them? Thinking about that is when I realized that our real fear is that God won't honor us for obeying Him and won't hear or honor our heartfelt prayers, and that our child will continue to live as His enemy for the rest of their life and die unsaved. Again, it made me realize that it was our own faith that needed to be worked on, our own minds that needed to be renewed by God's Word.
I would like to add that I have seen situations where the parents did speak the truth in love to their adult child, and continued to do so every chance they got. Yes, it took years of them faithfully doing that and faithfully praying, but in the long run their adult child was in fact convicted of their sin, repented, and returned to the Lord and to the faithful love of their family as well. I'm in no way suggesting that what these families did was easy, it wasn't. But the wonderful truth that they realized by obeying the Lord was that when they took that first step of faith, the Lord Himself gave them the courage to continue, and the words and boldness to speak that truth in love. I've seen that over and over again in my life as well, that we have to take that first step, and after that, the Lord gives us all we need. That first step is rarely a large one. It's generally something like making the commitment to obey Him. In a situation like we've been talking about, the first step may be to simply open our mouths to begin to speak, trusting that God is with us. Because we do that, God in fact will give us the courage, boldness and words to speak.
Please, if your adult child has turned away from God and is doing something that you know is wrong, don't hesitate to tell them so. And if your children are still young, then study His word faithfully every day now, so that you'll have the faith and the words to speak if they're ever needed when they're older. Live your faith daily, showing them what it looks like to be a Christian; what it looks like to trust the Lord and obey Him daily. By doing that you will be showing them the truth of God's Word and not just telling them about it.
!!
