Sin in the Camp

This is not a Proverbs study but an issue that we all need constant reminders, and constant encouragement in. The issue is sin in the camp; the camp being your home. I was talking with one of my wonderful sisters this week and we were discussing how to deal with sin in our kids when it comes up. Sin is as old as dirt and will be around until that great day of judgment when Jesus comes back. It is something that we need to get good at dealing with. It is so funny to say, but if we are honest and believe the Scriptures, we know that we will always sin in this life and it is our duty to get good at how we deal with it. There are so many temptations that we struggle with when sin enters and it is our job to eliminate these temptations and deal with the real issue of the sin itself. It is easy to get distracted from the real issue. It is so easy to blame others for our sin, it is so easy to justify our sin, it is so easy to rename our sin so that we do not acknowledge it as sin, it is so easy as parents to blame others for our kids bad attitude, unwholesome speech, disobedience.... and the list goes on! And when we do this, we add more messes onto the original mess. And this makes discernment near impossible! At this point we have taken a mole hill and turned it into a mountain. As parents we so often do this with our kids. We call it "protecting" them. But making excuses for our kids is really doing them Spirtual damage. We need to teach them to get out of sin as quickly as THEY get into it! That sin was in there heart and no one put it there. If it comes out, you should be thankful because it gives you the opportunity to give it to God and have him separate as far as the east is from the west. Making excuses for them is wrong. Making excuses for them is our sin and we need to repent of it! Making excuses for them keeps the sin in the camp and in their hearts. And being a sinner yourself does not mean that you are exempt from teaching them the true and right standard of the Scriptures. It is true that God hates hypocrisy, but He also hates disobedience. And it is true that you need to be spiritual so that you can instruct your children. But do not use your lazy disobedience as an excuse for lazy parenting. Get sin out of you, so that you can get it out of your children!!!

I remember going to Tijuana when I was 17 with my youth group to build a house for a poor family. The family that my housing team was assigned to lived on an old dump. We literally pulled up to a mountain of garbage and had to build our house there. It was a very sad business but it is also a really good picture of what undelt sin looks like. Do not build your life on this kind of mountain. Rather through repentance, deal with the "garbage" (the built up sin) and build your life on the solid ground that is Jesus.

Picture a window. This window represents your childs heart. When the window opens, what comes through is sin. It may be that when the window is open an unkind word comes out. It may be a bad attitude. It may be out right disobedience to your command. Whatever it is, it needs to be named according to Scripture. You need to teach your children to deal with sin and this is how you do it. Call it what the Bible calls it. Administer the consequence for that particular sin. Go to God with it. Confess to God the sin and ask him to take it away. Thank Him for taking it away. Confess to who (if someone else is involved) you sinned against using Biblical language.

Helpful words for moms: do not become emotional! Stay sober and close the window quickly. Do not be surprised that the house is a drafty place! Remember that sin is guaranteed and it is your job to teach faithfulness in cleaning up after sin, by cleaning up promptly, with thankfulness in your heart for the grace that God always administers! Do not tire of doing good!! God is ever patient with us. We sin against him again and again. When your kids sin again and again, imitate your Father in heaven and be longsuffering. This is a fruit of the spirit and one that we need to actively cultivate as moms. Longsuffering refers to suffering for a long time. This suffering is talking about sin. God is patient with us and does not cast us away the moment we mess up. This is what it is to be longsuffering and it is the whole story of the Bible! Ask God to give you this fruit of the Spirit. Ask God to make you like Him in this area. Mediate on this attribute of God. Think about the cross. Think about the grace you have received. This will make you more thankful and will equip to do to your children as God has done to you!

There is no reason that we should be annoyed at our kids when they sin. There is no reason that we should be angry at our kids when the mess up. There is no reason that we should be surprised when our kids sin. But we do get annoyed, angry and we are so often surprised. So go and repent and ask God to fill you up the fruit of the spirit. Ask God to make you like him. And learn to deal with sin promptly and cheerfully when it enters your camp!

God bless you as you endeavor to act more like him in this area!