The Prodigal Teapot: Loving the Unlovable - Part 2

Last time, I asked for stories of anyone who reconciled with God and their parents due to a hard-nosed, not-in-my-house attitude. I didn't receive any, but I'm still willing to share them if I do.I'm also aware that there are loving, Godly parents whose children chose to break away from them and the Lord to never return. Those kind of instances will also play into what I have to say.

I have three children, two daughters and one son. This means that I often hurt my feet by stepping on a mix of Barbie shoes, small cars, AND Lego's  I also learned that girls and boys are innately different, and that all kids have their own personalities, quirks, and issues. One child is far more compliant than another, and the third seems to be a puzzling mix of compliance and rebellion depending on the day. They are each my favorite, and I beg them not to tell the others that I have chosen them as my "number one." Two of them love and serve the Lord and go to a church that preaches the Gospel, and another stands on the brink of being an atheist. But I love them all equally and unconditionally (most of the time-I'm not perfect either).

That child on the brink, that rebellious, almost atheist child--where did I go wrong? Did I teach that child differently than the others? Did my husband and I treat that child with undo harshness? Did we fail somewhere? The answer to all three is a resounding "yes!" But these are trick questions because we failed at some point with all three of them. We're human, and our parents failed at some point with us and their parents with them all the way back to Adam and Eve. The point is as Christian parents we taught them God's word, put them in God's hands, and now we must leave their relationship with God between them . . . and God. I can't force salvation upon them as much as I want to. I have to leave it up to the work of the Holy Spirit and God's divine will.

There have been and still are many tears and sleepless nights centered around that child. Once I was accused by a rather self-righteous school administrator that I was dragging my child down the wrong path. My heart broke because I knew that I was fighting to drag that child down the right path. I also knew that I loved my child and that this administrator did not. He saw this child as a problem and a bother. It showed in his speech and in his actions when dealing with any problem child. He literally cooed over well-behaved, cookie-cutter kids, tolerated the quirky, artsy ones, and disliked and avoided the unruly ones with all the questions until it was time for disciplinary action. I also know that as his children and nieces and nephews grew older, some rebelled and others complied, and others led double lives. And each of them has their own decision to make concerning God, just as my children do.

All of that to say, as Christian parents we have a responsibility to teach our children about God, to train them to love others, and to be helpful and kind to everyone. We teach them to do their best, and to work hard. They may or may  not learn all of these things, but we should still love them. After all, God loves all of us. Christ did not die on the cross just for the cookie cutter Christian kids, the well-behaved, and the ones who never rebel. He died for my child on the brink of atheism, my compliant child, and the one who waffles between compliance and rebellion. He died for my children's imperfect parents, and that self-righteous administrator, and his children--even the ones leading double lives.

Christ loves the unlovable, the prodigal, the obedient, the whiny, the atheist, the homeless. His arms are open to all of them until they make their final decision to love or reject Him. He is the perfect parent, and he has never turned away one repentant child.

In the next entry, I want to cover the parable of the prodigal son in Luke, and share a few ideas a friend brought up about the son who stayed home.

In His Love,
Teapotjan