Tuesday, March 7, 2023
What is your first response when you recognize the sins committed by others? Be honest with yourself. It’s difficult to know how you’ll respond until you’re confronted with a transgression.
The best compliments I receive as a parent come when the world tells my wife and I that our kids are great representatives of the Camp family. I’m thankful that it happens quite a bit, but nobody is perfect. When I discover that one isn’t living up to their true potential, it hurts.
I was raised well, but most of my lessons came from my grandparents because of my mom’s illness. Let's just say their parenting style was more “old-school” than how I raise my kids. I enjoy taking the “Huxtable approach” from The Cosby Show. I know mentioning the show in 2023 can result in a tense conversation, but the heart of the Huxtable family will always live on in me.
I remember the episode when Theo was put on trial for lying. Claire, who is a lawyer and his mother, used her skills to pick apart Theo’s version of how the incident played out. On the show, Theo tried to cover up his part in body-shaming a female restaurant employee. It reminds me of when in real life, our son attempted to hide his role in sliding a dime between an outlet and a partially plugged-in cord.
You can go back to the beginning of time to see that hiding things from a parent often doesn’t go according to plan. In Genesis 3:6-9, God goes to the garden to gather the truth from Adam and Eve after they disobeyed his one direct order and made a mess of things. It was the first time God saw sin in the world and chose to act, but it wasn’t the last.
John 3:16
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The verse speaks to God’s response to sin. He chose to love us first because he is love. Then, God came nearer to us by seeking out Adam and Eve, making it clear to them the heavy price of their disobedience. Later, he provided a perfect sacrifice, his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God knew our sins would keep us from him, so he offered us a way out.
Claire Huxtable’s lesson to Theo was that continuously hiding the truth forces your life to fall apart. It’s the same lesson we teach our kids. Truth offers hope.
Remember God’s truth today—he loves you and sent Jesus to die for your sins so we can be with him forever. May it offer you true hope.
Questions:
Do you feel sinners are worthy of your love? Have you witnessed grace from others when you sinned?
Next Steps:
Be there for others when they sin by praying for them and inviting them to church. Stop hiding in your sin by finding purpose in GrowthTrack or finding freedom from what keeps you separated from God through Celebrate Recovery.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I am guilty of saying, “hate the sin, but love the sinner” in the past, but learning how to offer limitless forgiveness, 70 x 7, has shown me how to love better (Matthew 18:22). I am forever grateful for the love you graciously give. May your promises continue to keep me believing in hope for all of us. Amen.
Series Theme Verse:
2 Peter 1:4
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.