Train Up A Child...And Stand Back!

When my kids were toddlers, I was pretty sure I knew what the parents of teenagers should be doing to correct their behavior.

Now I'm simply the bewildered parent of teens myself.

It seems that unless you've experienced a situation, you should not presume to speak about it much. And so as my children grow, I'm trying to figure out how to grow them into godly and responsible young adults. My fear isn't about the choices they'll make under my roof; my fear is regarding the choices they'll make when they move out.

Parents of grown children often ask me how they can get their children on the right path. You can pray for them, and you can certainly encourage them and speak truth into their lives.

But you can't make any choices for them.

"He [Manasseh] prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem in his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God." 2 Chronicles 33:13

Manasseh was a king of Judah. He had been brought up by a godly father named Hezekiah. Now Hezekiah had his moments of faithlessness, as we all do, but he ultimately declared God to be the ruler of his kingdom, and not himself.

But Manasseh didn't walk that path in his younger days. He was only 12 when he suddenly became king. He lived as the most evil of pagans, worshiping and sacrificing to idols. Finally as an adult, Manasseh's evil was punished by a terrible defeat to the Assyrians. And in that moment, he didn't just ask God to make things better. He humbled himself before God. He acknowledged that his issue was in allowing himself to grow distant from God in the first place.

Hezekiah's influence, even after he was dead and gone, likely played a big part in leading Manasseh to repentance. So we can pray and influence our children, but we must remember that just as with any person in need of repentance, our greatest responsibility is to keep truth before them. No one can make their choices for them.