I was in a church service recently and the pastor who gave the sermon mentioned that he has told his children that if any of them should get an unwanted pregnancy, he would disown that child. He further said that if any of his male children should impregnate any lady before their wedding, he would disown both his child and the “bastard child”. According to him, this is his personal principle as far as his family is concerned.
Sounds tough right? A disciplined no-nonsense father, keeping his children in line! While I exalt and appreciate the place of strict principles in any Christian family, I do not think the cure for a headache is to cut off the head. I will give you two (2) instances from the Bible where God turned someone’s shame into their biggest celebration;
1. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus shared the parable of the prodigal son, who did one of the worst things any child could do to their father. But the approach of the father (representing God) was not to disown his child. Instead of disowning the child, the father ran toward him, embraced him, accepted him back to the family, and celebrated his return.
2. In Joshua 6:17 and 22, a woman was mentioned and repeatedly referred to by an ugly title; Rahab the harlot. Yet, God found it possible in His mercy to include that woman in the lineage of Jesus, His only begotten Son (Matthew 1:5).
If you were to choose a worst sinner between someone who got an unwanted pregnancy and a harlot, who would you choose? I guess you’d choose a harlot. Yet, God did not disown the harlot, instead, God forgave her and gave her a place among His chosen people. When people are at their worst, I believe that is our opportunity to show the height of God’s love and leverage the nasty situation to draw them to God. Research by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, regarding the concept of Post-Traumatic Growth suggests that people who experience trauma or adversity can emerge stronger and more resilient. The trauma can be their chance to learn positive change in self-perception, spiritual growth, improved relationships and finding meaning. If such people can come out of that kind of challenge in their life, they become an inspiration to many and often become unbreakable because what they considered worst has happened to them and they overcame it.
As Christians, I believe that the height of our holiness is when we express love and show compassion to the world around us, not when we prove a “holier than thou” attitude. We have to get to that point in our walk with God when we are so holy (on the inside and outside) that our presence in the world will not defile us, rather the power of holiness within us will transform the world around us.
Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke shared a story of his friend who invited him to preach in his church. When he got there, he noticed that the congregation had only adults and the aged. After the ministration, on their way back as his friend drove him, he asked his friend “Where are the young people in this town”? His friend told him he would take him to where the young people in the town were, and he drove him to a nightclub in that town. Bonnke looked inside the club and saw lots of young people; he was not just seeing a club, he was seeing people who needed Jesus. So, he asked his friend if he could help him talk to the owner of the club to give him 5 minutes to speak to the young people dancing and “having fun”. At first, the owner protested, but after much pleading by Bonnke, the owner allowed him and told him to use strictly 5mins. After Bonnke spoke to the young people inside the club for 5 minutes, almost all of them surrendered their lives to Jesus. The next time Bonnke visited that city and checked the club, it had been turned into a worship centre for Jesus. That is a minister of God who would consider himself too holy to visit a club for Jesus, too holy to speak to people drinking and smoking. He would not consider himself too good to embrace those who need the love of Jesus the most. Where most would see a problem, a scar, a nasty situation; a spirit-led minister of God would see an opportunity for Jesus.
Christian parenting demands a balance of discipline and love. When children make mistakes, let's emulate God's forgiveness and offer unwavering support. By showing love and guidance, we can help them find their way back to God, turning loss into a powerful testimony of redemption.
Dear parents, I am not writing this to encourage immorality, God forbid, but the moment of trauma for your child is not the time to abandon them; rather, that is your chance to stand in the gap for them and rescue them from further plans of Satan over their lives. If you send that child away because you think they have done the worst, Satan will gladly accept them and complete the wreck over their life. Please do the opposite; let it be our gain, Satan’s loss.
Mercy and peace be with you.
Compiled by
Caleb Oladejo
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