Not Free

Parents, what would you actually do if you were totally free to choose to do whatever you wanted to do? That is not a totally fair question. The reason it is not a fair question, is that we are not totally free to choose. Thank God!

      We are not free because His Spirit indwells us. We are not free because we are slaves of Christ. We have been bought with a price. But we must relinquish the rights of our old master the devil and submit to the will of our new master, Jesus Christ.

      We are not free because we are connected to Christ’s Church. This means a direct connection to God’s Word preached, taught and pushed out into the corners of our lives. God’s Word is a living and two-edged sword and it compels us to do that which is right.

      We are not free because we are connected to Christ’s body, particularly, the local church. We have pastors, elders, deacons and fellow congregants who pray for us, confront us, know us and love us such that we are exhorted to do that which is right.

      And in all of this we have abundant grace, from God and from men, that forgives us our sins and enables us to start anew with each grace filled day.

      This means receiving and dispensing forgiveness in great abundance.

      If you get this, then the daunting task of bringing teenagers into adulthood is not so overwhelming. If you did your good work, by the grace of God, in the little years, then the coming of age years will be good and glorious.

      The goal then of raising teens and young adults is their own ownership of who they are in Jesus Christ. We want them to own up to it of their own free will. This is not independence from God, the Church or the Christian Community, but rather, a personal conviction of loyalty to God, the Church, family and community.