Those Who Think They Are Righteous

Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor —sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” Luke 5:31-32

OUT OF A DESIRE for our children’s holiness, we sometimes set them up to be hypocrites. Rather than recognizing that our children are sick with the disease of sin and in need of the healing touch of Christ, we bandage them up with church activity and dress them up in good behavior so that they learn to look healthy and good when that may not at all be the reality in their souls.

“Before sin is a matter of behavior, it is always a matter of the heart.” Sin, quite simply, is part of our nature. The frustrating thing for us as parents is that we don’t have the power to change our children’s hearts. So in our zealousness to see them doing what is right, we “ask the law to do in the lives of [our] children what only grace can accomplish.” We put our hope in creating the “right set of rules, the right threat of punishment, and consistent enforcement.” We fool ourselves into thinking that if we can regulate our children’s behavior, we will have done our job well.

But if the right set of rules (the Ten Commandments), the right threat of punishment (exile from the land of promise), and consistent enforcement (the perfect justice of God) had the power to create lasting change in the lives of people, there would have been no need for a Savior. But Jesus has come, and he still comes into the homes of people who are sick with sin. He never calls us as parents to do what only he can do, but instead “he lifts the burden of change” in our children off us and onto himself.

Lord, we want to teach ________ your law, which we know is right and good. And we want to faithfully exercise authority and loving discipline in ________’s life. We want to be tools in your hands to create the heart change that is needed in ________’s life. Please show us where we’re substituting rule-keeping for genuine love for you. Keep reminding us that you come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who are sick with sin and in need of your grace of repentance.