Leading With Love and Authority: Balancing Grace and Truth as You Lead Your Children Toward ChristSample

The Grace that Covers

When our children were young, I remember an evening we spent together with several families. One of the children was having an absolute come-apart—you know the kind. Her mama said, “Sorry, last night she didn’t want to go to bed, so we gave her ‘grace’ and let her stay up past her bedtime.” I pondered that for days.

That was a misunderstanding of grace.

Grace doesn’t look the other way when we fail or resist what’s right. Not at all. Grace is a safe place to admit that we’ve missed the mark. That child wasn’t struggling with a sleep issue—she was pushing back on authority and resisting obedience.

Grace would have recognized that it’s hard to do things we don’t want to do. Grace would have acknowledged our human nature—that we often want what we want, when we want it. Grace would even have understood that sometimes, it’s hard to follow.

But grace would not bow to demands. Grace wouldn’t ignore rebellion. Because grace calls us higher.

Grace doesn’t lower or dismiss biblical standards. Grace covers us and our children when we fall short of them. Grace is an invitation to grow.

We will all experience God’s grace to the degree that we recognize our need for it. The more we acknowledge our failures, the more we receive His grace.

So, let’s model what it means to fail forward—and to receive grace in the process.

Your home can be a greenhouse for growth because Jesus—full of grace and truth—dwells among us and in us.

Let’s live out the gospel of grace.

Reflection:

What does it look like to bring grace into moments of failure or conflict in your home? How can you model both truth and grace like Jesus?

Written by Suzanne Phillips