"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not stray from it." Proverbs 22:6 These are words of comfort to someone who has known the Lord since before they became a parent. What about the rest of us who set an ungodly, selfish example of how to be a grown-up and that is bearing its own thorny fruit? When my older kids were in elementary and middle school, I was very busy making sure that life was making me happy. I was working more than full time and had very little left to go around. Since I got married at 18 and was feeling like I missed out on the "fun" stuff, I was making up for lost time. Anyway, suffice it to say that I didn't instill the values and choices in my kids that I plan to with the little guys. The proverb about how to raise your children was filling me with a lot of guilt and trepidation, which I do know are not of God. Godly repentance when faced with my sin is what He wants, not a constant rehashing of everything I did wrong, but I could not find a way to stop.
So, I prayed. I asked God to forgive me for not teaching the kids about Him, and for being more concerned with my own happiness than what they needed at the time, which was security and to be a priority in my life. I told Him that I was worried about the far-reaching consequences of my actions. The Lord answered my prayer with a verse that reminds me of His mercy towards a sinner like me: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:9
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