9/10/2023 0 Comments What does giving grace mean![]() ![]() Perhaps time and distance from the incident really is enough. However, to keep a running list of ways you’ve been hurt, as I’m sometimes tempted to do, is like tearing a scab off a healing wound. Being a peacemaker doesn’t mean sweeping things under the rug. But what purpose would that serve? Occasionally it is very important to get to the bottom of things, especially if they are current points of contention in your relationship. There are things from years ago that I would like to hash out with my parents, and in my short-sightedness, I’d like an apology and an admission that I was right. If we want to be a generation of grace, then we must start by extending grace to those closest to us: our parents. I think that my generation does more harm than good by harping on the mistakes our parents made. But the vast majority of their decisions were made in love, after a lot of prayer and conversation, and they truly wanted something better for their children. ![]() Were they sometimes reactionary, or operating out of fear of man? Yes. They were often first-generation Christians, and certainly first-generation homeschoolers, and they were figuring it out as they went along. By and large, my friends and I had parents who loved us and truly wanted to raise us well. While I don’t want to minimize the experiences of my peers who had truly abusive parents, I don’t believe that was the case in most families, at least in my circles. As a parent now myself, I know I’m already (unwittingly) making decisions my children will someday have to forgive. ![]() I didn’t have terrible parents: they were (and are) great parents! But they are human, and therefore bound to make mistakes. Many of their other decisions had benefits I greatly appreciate–now even more than I did then. Some of those rules ended up having negative impacts on our family in the long-term. Like many (if not all) of you, I don’t agree with every decision my parents made. I was raised in a very conservative home. ![]() Every day that I parent, I am humbled as I face my own failures.Įvery day that I parent, I am more able to grant grace to my own parents for what I so often perceived as their failures. ![]()
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