Transcript
As a parent, you're not just dealing with bad behavior. This is so significant. You're dealing with a condition that causes bad behavior. I love one of the ways that the Bible talks about the struggle of sinners. It talks about sinners being lost.
What Lost People Need
You see, parents, the thing with your kids is that they're lost and what do lost people need? They need understanding. They need help. They need wisdom. They need guidance. One of the ways that you can think about the lostness of your children is that every child ever born comes into the world believing two lies.
First is the lie of autonomy. That lie says, "My life belongs to me and I have the right to do whatever I want with my life." That lie of autonomy makes your children resist your authority. Or the lie of self-sufficiency. The lie of self-sufficiency says that I have everything inside of myself to be what I'm supposed to be and to do what I'm supposed to do.
Those are destructive lies. They will wreck the lives of your children and so, they need to be rescued from themselves. Not just managed, not just controlled, but rescued - rescued by wisdom, rescued by understanding, rescued by guidance, rescued by forgiving and transforming grace.
Look at your children today. Don't just see little rebels. Don't just see children who make bad choices that drive you crazy or say things that hurt your feelings. Look into their eyes and see lost people and move toward them with the power of the rescuing grace of Jesus.
