grace and parenting

Over the last several years I’ve noticed a tendency in my family of origin, and in me, to capitulate parental responsibility and forgoing the right to speak life into others (namely the children) because of past sin.  This seems to me to be a grave mistake and a misplacement of priority.  Better said; it is a lie from the pit of hell!

This article on the effects of guilt in parenting puts it well:  “All of this is just to remind us that the cross is central to all of life. Without the grace that God has given us in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we are lost. Good parents are forgiven parents.”

Being a sinner in need of amazing grace does not disqualify you from being a sinner in need of amazing grace.  That is true horizontally as well as vertically and a needed reminder for us parents.