WOUNDING A WEAK CONSCIENCE

Because many are careful not to be called a legalist, some have swung to the other side of the pendulum and have gone into extreme tolerance to the point of compromising convictions (impurity, obscenity, alcoholism, materialism, greed, pride, lashing with the tongue, etc).

“Because we’re now under grace and not the law,” we have used it to become a license to do whatever we want as long as it’s not technically or flat out sinful.

But the grace of God does not give us the license to do whatever we want. In fact, it urges us to live a life that pleases God because we have been saved undeservingly by His grace.

We obey not to be accepted. We obey because we have been accepted.
We please God not to earn His love. We please Him because we have received His love.

With this said, we live life in honor of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Notwithstanding this truth, we also consider those who are around us.

Because of this type of tolerance, it has caused others’ conscience to be wounded and some to fall from their faith.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:12, When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” 

If we say because of God’s grace, we can do whatever we want, then we haven’t understood God’s grace at all.

Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is. (1 John 3:6)

PARENTING PITFALL: Tolerance

Tolerance is a dangerous word, especially when it comes to parenting.
It has become a parenting pitfall to many and I am no exception.

When my son was about three, he loved spending his energy by running and jumping all around the place. This was carried over even when we were in church. He would run around and jump off the stage. After a few instances, one of our leaders sat me down and said, “Paolo, you are a great dad. And you have a wonderful son. But there might just be some instances when you have tolerated things that you shouldn’t have. If our children act they way they do, it’s either we’ve influenced them to do it or merely tolerated their behavior.”

BOOM! At that moment, I felt like I was hit by a bomb. I realized that certain things my kids do are not because they’re being rebellious but because of lack of instruction from their parents.

Gilbert K. Chesterton said,
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”

We have to be deliberate in our parenting. We have to sow seeds of God’s Word in the lives of our kids. God’s Word has everything to say about how we can train, discipline, and raise our children.

Nobody said parenting was going to be a breeze. But we are not without hope. God will help. He will guide. He will bless. His promise stands true that if we train our children in the way they should go, when they grow up, they will not depart from what they’ve been taught (Proverbs 22:6).