John 8:31-44 New Living Translation (NLT)

³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. ³⁵ A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. ³⁷ Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. ³⁸ I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

³⁹ “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.^[a] 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. ⁴¹ No, you are imitating your real father.”

They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”

⁴² Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! ⁴⁴ For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I am TRYING to consider it pure joy as I face yet another trail in parenting. A trial which I have had the displeasure of repeatedly facing. A trial that I repeatedly faced when I was a child.

Lying.

Why do we lie?

The short answer is pride.

The long answer is we desire something or someone more than God. When we are tempted by the lust of the eyes and flesh we make a decision in our soul to flee or forward march in our own strength to obtain what we want. When we begin suffering the consequences that inevitably follow, we hide, just like Adam & Eve. We cover ourselves. We blame others, or the enemy. But when we are born again, we become part of the family of Christ. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit who tells us how to escape temptation. Yet even when we fail to obey, the Spirit helps us return to our Father by convicting us of sin so that we will confess, repent and be restored.

The bible says, “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but discipline will drive it far away.” (Proverbs 22:15) So when I came emotionally undone again today, and yelled again, at our child who lied- again, the Holy Spirit was my helper. “Lord!” I cried, I am soooo tired of battling this issue. Please help me. What can I do?!?”

“Discipline,” He whispered.

“You MUST discipline.”

Then He revealed what was going on in my own heart; foolishness. Not wanting to be inconvienced in putting forth the time, energy and effort to train, I have failed to discipline consistently. I’m not a failure. But I have failed. And in doing so I have foolishly given power to the devil to entrap our child as a slave of sin. Please understand me, our child has chosen over and over to disobey. I am not to blame, nor is the enemy. Children are foolish! They need parents to train them. Otherwise, they will develop rebellious character which imitates the father of lies.

So today I choose to:

-Shut up, get up and armor up.

-Develop a battle plan.

-Swing my double edged sword!

-Teach our children to obey God by obeying me.

-Train our children in the way that they should go.

Because when I do, God promises, it will go well for them and they will not depart from Him when they are older!