I confessed my sin to my children yesterday. I’m the father of a daughter age 17 and three sons age 21, 19 and 10. Last night both my wife and I had work engagements and left our 10 year old with our two young adult sons who are home for the summer after being away at college.
The first sin was when I got mad at my eldest son for bringing our vehicle back too late meaning that I would now be late for the banquet I was to attend. I drove away without waiting for an explanation and silently seething as well. He could tell I was upset. Punctuality is important to me but my ungraciousness was uncalled for.
Secondly, when i got home they were watching a movie that seemed to be questionable for a 10 year old. My 10 year old son was indeed traumatized by some images and left the room without me asking him to. After comforting him I expressed my disappointment to my older boys and did not give them a chance to explain that they had even checked reviews by “Focus on the Family” to make sure it was appropriate [Obviously even their standards do not ensure a positive experience].
On both occasions I jumped to conclusions and made the most negative judgments about my young adult sons even though on both occasions they had done due diligence to do the right thing even though results were unexpected. They were both hurt by the lack of grace I had shown.
I couldn’t even blame it on a bad day at the office. I simply screwed up and showed ungrace to my responsible and well-meaning sons. I’m thankful for good kids who make good decisions and also make some mistakes for which i need to graciously forgive them as they did for me last night. We cried and embraced and I went to bed forgiven and more at peace than I had been all evening.
When I was a teenager I remember my dad apologizing to me for something he did. It made an impact on me and taught me an important quality that gave me the courage to do the right thing now that I’m a father.
