Jesus came to die to save us from our sins, and He warns those who cause others to sin that it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and drowned in the sea than to cause a little one who believes in Him to sin.

He says “woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matt 18:6-7)

While this passage broadly talks about influencing others to sin, it certainly includes the influencing of children.

And I immediately think of child pornographers, drug dealers, human traffickers and the like. They will certainly get their due unless they repent and turn to Christ.

But I also think there will be woe to those who sit idly in silent approval while their own children fall into sin.

I think of parents who, not only remain silent, but fund their daughter’s inappropriate clothing and pay for their son’s drunken college experience.

I think of parents who stick their heads in the sand and ignore the right-in-front-of-them social media evidence of their kids’ debauchery.

I know our kids have a free will. Believe me, I know that all too well. But I also know we will be held accountable for our parenting.

But what does this look like practically? As parents, what should we expect and enforce?

If your kids are in your household or dependent upon you financially, if you can claim them as a dependent on your taxes, or let’s say you are funding their college education, then they are not independent and therefore, I suggest you have the right to authority over them.

Just because your children may be 18 or older, I don’t believe they have the right to do whatever they want if they are not able to live independently of you (financially or otherwise).

Specifically, I’m saying that you should not help fund the sin of your children.

Don’t pay for their dorm room, tuition, cell phone, car payment, car insurance etc if your kids are living an openly, ungodly lifestyle.

Yes, be kind. Assure them of your continued love for them and tell them this is exactly why you can’t financially support a sinful lifestyle.

At the very least, kids will have less time to do wrong things if they have to work and help support themselves.

The truth is, part of loving our children is to help them not to sin, and some parents are actually doing just the opposite…they are footing the bill.

In addition to funding sin, some parents are turning a blind eye and refusing to confront sin in their children’s lives—and I mean adult kids here too… “Well, he’s an adult so I’m fine with him sleeping with his girlfriend when they come to visit”.

As a Christian parent, my goal is to continually point my kids to Jesus and right living not literally or figuratively to make the bed for them to sin.

Can we parent this way and our kids still go the wrong way? Yes. Will they pitch a fit, threaten, and break our hearts? Possibly.

But as parents, just like everything else we do as believers, we must trust and obey the Lord first and foremost.

My kids are all adults now, but I will always want them to love Jesus and walk close to God and reap the amazing blessings that come from that. This will always impact my interactions with them.

Have I been a perfect parent or lived a perfect life? Absolutely not!

And if you’ve done some things wrong in your parenting too, God’s mercies are new each morning. His compassions fail not as He will strengthen us to walk in His ways.

And as we keep pointing our kids to Jesus, I’m mindful that following Christ is truly the way of blessing and I’m also thankful that Jesus is the hope and standard… not their momma.

Thank God.

readmatthew

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