Toll Free
This past Sunday during the meet and greet portion of the service, I had a brief exchange with a lady sitting behind me. During our conversation she asked about my kids, exclaiming that she had noticed that they hadn’t been coming to church. In an abbreviated explanation of details, I answered that I don’t force my kids to come to church.
The bottom line is that in my years of rebellion, I simply messed up by not being a God loving and fearing father from the start. Had I been focused on God when my kids we’re younger, I do believe that they would have a different outlook toward God and the purpose of going to church.
By the time I began to heed God’s Holy Spirit urging me to repent of my sinful ways, my kids had become older and accustomed to the cussing and beer guzzling image that I had set as precedence in their minds. I’m quite sure that a divorce thrown into the mix didn’t help matters either.
I say the following not to boast of anything that I’ve done, but rather as testimony of what Jesus has done in my life. A year ago this past May (seems so much longer), I had a falling out with a friend, that devastated me emotionally. The first month or so was a roller coaster of emotions and spiritual turmoil, I won’t go over the details, but suffice it to say that if there were any fruit in my life it was surely all lemons. I realized that I had a serious problem; how could I profess to be a Christian and yet have so much anger and unforgiveness in my heart? Not two qualities that I’ve ever read about as being attributed to Christ-like behavior and attitude.
During that rocky period, God put several people in my life to see me through the storm. I didn’t get ministered to for hours on end, or beat into submission with quote after quote from Scripture. No one lectured me on what they would do if it were them, nor did they cater to my emotions. Each person that I believe God sent into my life simply shared a “word” for me that they felt placed on their heart to deliver. On one specific day, a friend visited me, she said that she just knew she was supposed to. We talked for a while, she mostly listened to me vent, and then she left me with whatever it was that I needed to hear. I can’t tell you to this day why other than believing it to be divine providence that Galatians 5:16-26 were the Bible verses that were the catalyst that day. Conviction!
Galatians 5:16-18
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
In the span of a few minutes of reading those words, The Word had changed my perspective and attitude about life and the relationships that ensue. Outwardly, there were things about myself that changed almost overnight. My tongue was tamed, I no longer used profanity, my temper was calmed, I became more patient with people. I quit drinking immediately, this had been a regular habit for most of my adult years. As the months passed my zeal for reading God’s word grew more and more, and I too matured.
As I grew, I realized more and more the spiritual implications of me failing to raise my kids in a God centered family environment. I tried to “make up” for lost time by forcing my kids to go to church, in hopes that they would understand the eternal importance of accepting Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Needless to say that for all of the wanting that I had, this new dad was a shock to them. In the process of growing closer to God day by day it eventually became evident that I just needed to realize that I could only share the Good News with my kids, not save them.
I’ve heard it said that “God doesn’t force Himself on anyone.”, and I’ve read:
Hosea 11:1-2
1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.2 But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
I haven’t given up hope for my kids, just learning to put my trust in the Lord that His Holy Spirit will do for them what He did for me.
Grace and peace be with you.