Child: Mom, does this mean that (place name here) is doing (place action here)?
Me: Yes, dear
Child: But, isn't that wrong?
This is where the conversations usually take an interesting turn. Wrong. There are a lot of things that are wrong. Not brushing your teeth before bed, is wrong. Skipping the homework problems that are too hard, is wrong. But most of these situations go beyond an easy right or wrong answer. They are sins committed by sinners....but we all have those. Here is how the conversation continued today:
Me: Here's the thing, God has His best plan all set for you. He has placed some boundaries for you in His Word to help keep you safe and help you live a life that is filled with His blessings. But, we all make mistakes, don't we? Some people might not believe in God or maybe they just thought they knew better and wanted to try it their own way.
Child: So, should we stop being their friends? Or, maybe we should ask them not to come to our church anymore?
Me: Well, that get's complicated. We want everyone to know about Jesus and how much He loves them. If they don't come to church anymore, they might not ever realize how much Jesus loves them. If we stop being their friends, they might stop coming to church because we have offended them. It is hard when people don't follow God's best plan.
After thinking more about the conversation we had today I think I will add a few more sentences if we continue this in the morning or a different day. I would like to say: I think it might be best if we share our friendship and our love with
them and then maybe God will help them to find His best plan for them
again. Let's pray for them and for the Holy Spirit to help them see God's love. Let's also remember that we all do things that are wrong and need help remember to follow God's best plan for us.
My prayers tonight will include a petition for all of us and that we all may be looking to walk in the light of God's best plan for us.
2 comments:
Quick question, because I think you'll like the challenge. Do you think not brushing your teeth at night is a sin? That's what I gathered from what you wrote. Just checking. Because if you are saying yes, then isn't everything a sin? Didn't tie my shoelace when I noticed it came undone...Sin. Sneezed and didn't cover my mouth. Sin. Didn't fill up my gas tank when it was low and I ran out of gas. Sin. I guess I'm looking for you to quantify what IS and what ISN'T sin. I have heard that anything that doesn't glorify God is sin. If that's true, if I chew a piece of gum and didn't thank God for the Hubba Bubba first, is that sin? I love that you are doing this blog. I hope you don't mind the questions.
I don't mind the questions at all! Thanks for asking.
I didn't really mean to imply that not brushing your teeth was a sin, however it is a wrong choice and not what is best for your body. (at least that is what my dentist says :-) I was trying to demonstrate that in my children's eyes the word wrong, covers a vast territory. I do believe that it is considered a sin if you tell your children to brush their teeth and they choose not to obey. There is a difference between disobedience and forgetfulness.
What is and what is not a sin can be a complicated question. One of the reason we have so many different Christian denominations is because they can not agree upon what is and what is not a sin. In our home, we go with the Ten commandments. This keeps it simple, but don't be fooled, those commandments cover a great deal of territory.
I do believe that we should live our lives to glorify God, I also believe that we fall short of that everyday. I am so thankful that I have God's love and forgiveness that allows me to learn from my failures and gives me the strength to try again the next day. Christ died for us all, it is a free gift for us to accept, there are no strings attached. However, choosing to live a life that brings glory to God will rock your world. God loves each and every one of us just where we are, He loves us so much that His best plan is not to leave us there.
This is just my two cents on the topic. I hope it helps.
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