Posts in category For the Heart

Devotional


For the Heart

Should I Tell My Child She’s a Sinner?

Had I just committed the unpardonable parenting crime? I had finished a conversation with my four-year-old daughter: “We are all sinners,” I looked her straight in the eyes as I continued, “And sin always hurts. It hurts us because we deserve to be punished in hell for it.” I had just told my daughter she was a sinner, condemned by God. Had I cruelly set time-bombs of depression and despair in her little heart by teaching her the doctrine of original sin?

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to forgive or not forgive
For the Heart

To Forgive, or Not to Forgive?

As a Christian, am I obligated to forgive everyone who sins against me? Do I forgive only if the offender asks me to? What do I do if he never asks forgiveness?

All this came up while my daughter was counseling at a Christian camp this summer. One of her campers (“Anna”) asked her whether she was obligated to forgive her father for being verbally abusive to her, even if he never apologized for his behavior. See, someone else had told her that she needed to, and she wanted to know if that was right.

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