I had a bad day.  I am going to bed angry with my children for their attitudes, and their mood swings.  I am angry because today one of them lied to my face and she is the young one.  She is supposed to be my innocent one. She is supposed to be the one we did this parenting thing correctly. For a moment I thought I need to just pull out my Thor hammer and play whack kid. I was reminded today that I am raising sinners.  I was reminded I am the chief of them.

Every parent if we are honest holds to proverb 22:6

 “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

We think if we just teach them correctly they will be perfect little angels. Today is another reminder that my kids aren’t perfect and that they resemble more closely this verse:

¹⁰ “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Acts 13:10

Here is the rub, on most days I epitomize this verse also.  You see every day I know I should have more patient. I know I should have more kind words.  I know I should be praying for them and with them.  I should be reminding them I am not perfect (although they know it, they need to hear it as well).  They need to know the only remedy is Jesus.  Jesus’ forgiveness for us brings a new day.  It brings healing to these broken relationships.  It brings peace to situations that are in chaos.

I think often as parents we are afraid to say this.  That we all have days, weeks, months even years where we are chief of sinners.   We fail to point our kids to Jesus. Being a parent is hard.  We are all sinners in need of Jesus.

So tonight I am on my knees in prayer.  I am praying for my kids, I am praying for my wife, and I am praying for me. I am praying  we would experience Christ’s forgiveness.  Lets join together in prayer as we walk with Jesus.

³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 NIV