Come Back To God!

God . . . brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

EACH TIME we discipline our kids, we can use it as an opportunity to vent our frustration and anger, force them into toeing the line, shame them into agonized regret, and manipulate them into changed behavior. Or we can see ourselves as following through on the task we’ve been given by God himself —this task of reconciling people, including our children —to him.

We were once God’s enemies, opposed to all that he loved and doing the opposite of what he lovingly commanded. But instead of yelling at us, shaming us, or manipulating us, he welcomed us. He reconciled us to himself by pouring out his anger on his own Son. In this way he drew us close to himself. His kindness led us to repentance when we had done nothing to deserve it and, in fact, had done everything to earn his wrath. All of the obstacles that came between him and us were defeated by his great love.

So now, as parents who have been reconciled to God, we can live and love and discipline as reconcilers. We can point our children to the cross as the place where their sin has been dealt with. Rather than pushing them away with our angry words and cold demeanor, we can draw our children close as we remember that God’s kindness led us to repentance. We can love as we’ve been loved and forgive as we’ve been forgiven.

Lord, you never come to us with folded arms. Your arms are always open to us, even when we’ve done wrong. We want that kindness to mark our interactions with ________, even when ________ has done wrong. Thank you for this counterintuitive message of reconciliation instead of condemnation that is ours to pass along to our children. Help us to live as reconcilers by being willing to humble ourselves and make the first move toward those we’ve hurt.