Who is Responsible?
Deuteronomy 24:16 (NLT)
“Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes." Deuteronomy 24:16 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
Do you ever give in to the temptation to relieve your child of his responsibility in messing up, letting him off the hook, while you make up the difference?
Verse 16 concerns personal responsibility. Each person is individually, personally responsible for his own crime; therefore, he must personally bear the punishment for the crime.
Moses gives the example of a father or a child who steps in to bear the punishment for the other. There is a tendency among parents to protect their children when facing their responsibility for a particular mess up. Have you ever cleaned up the mess your child made either literally or figuratively?
But God is clear: each individual must learn to accept responsibility for his own behavior, and each individual is to bear the punishment for his own mess up. Every person is to be held individually, personally responsible for his own behavior.
Good parenting advice. Do you find this hard to do?
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
I wonder whether the blog message takes the verses too far. There have been other messages in which the idea that a person can be Christ-like by taking on another's debt as their own. Why should I treat my child with any less compassion? I won't argue against the concept that my child needs to learn to take personal responsibility for his behavior. But there are times that he might make a mess that will have implications for a longer term than is needed for such a lesson. That's when he needs an intervenor; someone who (I'd like to believe) is representing The Intervenor.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 2: I see where there are times where we need to help when our children do not understand the consequences of their actions. It would seem to repeatedly doing this can distort or inhibit the child's ability to learn the lesson that will help them later in life. I know it is painful to see your child go through such. I have to believe God's plan for that child will see him/her through. I have to believe all my prayers are effective. I have to believe that sometimes I have to get out of the way so that child will eventually come to the end of his folly and develop his relationship, his own personal relationship, with God. I hate the thought that my child would do wrong and end up with a prison record. However, I have seen in my own nephew's imprisonment come to a place where he realized it was his decisions that lead him there. His hard heart was finally ready to accept redemption. This young man of 30 finally realized Jesus was the way. All my coaching during his visits, some very harsh words about his behavior, may have helped or not. I know Jesus brought him to a place where God's message finally broke through. He has gone through rehab, believed sponsored by a church, accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and has been assisting a church plant on Maryland. I do believe he has a gift to reach others who are living the life he left because he has seen it all, knows all those pains and disappointments, and knows those excuses are lies. Could his patents or I have intervened to keep him out of jail? Well it would have been a constant battle to do so. Did I want him to go to jail? Most definitely not!! But when I see now how God's plan unfolded, I am glad he was able to get through that experience! This is not always the case. However, I believe the prayers from time past had a great impact on the results. Not all family have that intervention. I hope others will see where prayer is needed for family members as best intervention to enable the best results when we see getting out of the way and allow God to work in His way.
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