One thing I have learned living with a teenager is that nothing is ever his fault. If he steps out of line and gets reprimanded, it's not his fault. If he misses the bus because he mismanaged his time, it's not his fault. If he is late coming home, nine times out of ten it's not his fault. Please understand me -- I'm not picking on my teen. Who of us ever really wants to acknowledge that we are quite often to blame for our actions? Whatever happened to accountability and accepting responsibility for the things we do and say?
None of us can escape the reality that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). If you drink excessively, you will wake up with a nasty hangover or worse, injure or kill another person or yourself by driving under the influence of the alcohol or drugs you consume. If you flirt with sexual intimacy and overstep the boundaries of sexual purity, you run the risk of contracting an STD or becoming a parent before you are ready to. If you spend more money than you make, you will end up strangled by debt and hounded by creditors. If you speed, you may get caught, ticketed, and penalized by higher insurance rates. Neglect your studies and you will fail academically. Fail to show up for work and you will soon find yourself unemployed. If you choose friends whose character does not meet the standard you and the Lord have set for yourself, pretty soon you will find yourself sinking to their level rather than elevating them to yours. Most importantly, neglect your spiritual walk with the Lord and you will find yourself in the hands of Satan, tempted beyond your ability to resist, and eating right out of his hand.
Sometimes parents do stupid things that have negative consequences for you. But for the most part, you are ultimately responsible for the consequences of your own actions. And God is never to blame for the bad things that happen to you. He loves you unconditionally, but he is just and he will allow you to suffer the consequences of your own poor choices.
"Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others--ignoring God!--harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life" (Galatians 6:7-8, The Message).
No comments:
Post a Comment