Luke 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
This passage of scripture brings to light a familiar scenario which is played out to some degree in many families, and the results are too often the same. The younger son demanded of his father his portion of the inheritance, which was only due after the father's death, yet the father respected the son's unwise choice and granted him what he unjustly requested. But as in every experience of life, there is a sowing phase and a reaping phase, and not long after the younger son left home with his father's goods, the cold realities of life began to settle in.
This parable contains very valuable lessons that we can all benefit from, and both parents and children should study carefully the ramifications of the choices and decisions made by the father and son, for they are pregnant with timeless instructions for all. The son had obviously reached the years of young adulthood, and even though he was inexperienced in the realities of living, yet the father did the right thing by honoring his choice, and thereby allowing him the freedom to learn the hard way. The dire circumstances that came upon the young man represented a necessary learning curve that taught him to reason soberly from cause to effect and thereby conclude that he had done a great wrong by dishonoring his parents.
However, a mistake that is commonly made by parents when our children are going through this difficult learning process, is to deliver them out of their troubles prematurely, before the critically important lessons are learned, and by doing so we often do more harm than good, by fore-stalling the practical lessons that would cause them to stand up on their two feet. The father in the parable did not make this mistake, and that's probably one of the reasons why the young man "Came to himself".
As parents, we are required to lay before our children the consequences and liabilities of certain actions, whether they be good or bad, for the freedom of choice that God has granted us, is to be used to make informed decisions. Let's read:
Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
On of the problems we encounter as parents is how to strike a balance between love and firmness, for when it comes time to correct and instruct our children, we are sometimes viewed by our kids as not being "Cool", and so we sometimes let slip by, golden opportunities to correct certain evils whilst they are young, hoping they would out-grow them. But this is a sad mistake, for the characters of most children are basically set by the age of seven or eight, and if we neglect to train them consistently during this window of opportunity, the job only gets more and more difficult as the years roll by.
But if ever we have to choose between being "Cool" or "Firm", let us choose firm, for if we do our parental duties faithfully, even though at times we may have confrontations with our kids, God will supply the needed grace to lead them and guide their young feet in the way of righteousness and peace, for it requires cooperation with God in their training, in order for His blessings to supplement our efforts. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which should be of some encouragement to those of us who are saddled with the delicate task of training our children for this world and the next. Let's read:
Isaiah 49:25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
May we put our entire trust in God and His word, for the instructions He has given us for the raising of our children, are for their best temporal and eternal good. God bless!