Here I was, depriving us of sleep. My patient wife was working
through the night. In the morning, she would be facing a classroom
full of youngsters as a school teacher. She would be exhausted. I
would be a hazard on the road as I drove to Philadelphia.
(^) I had to ask myself, “Why am I doing this?” Was I persuaded that
God wanted me to deny sleep to my wife and myself? Was I
convinced that God’s truth and righteousness demanded that I work
through the night? No! I was not being driven by the fear of God; I
was driven by the fear of man. I wanted the professors to regard me as
an efficient, capable pastor. I feared their disapproval. I craved their
approval. In my pride and my fear of man, I made choices based on
being a man-pleaser, not a God-pleaser. I prayed that night. I
confessed my sins to my wife and God. I repented of living in the fear
of man.
(^) Sharing this experience with my teen-aged children provided
many fruitful times of conversation. They could identify with the
choices I had been making. They could see where they had done the
same things. They could also see how liberating it was to fear God
rather than man.
(^) I am appalled at the skepticism people express about helping
teenagers see the importance of the fear of God. It is too often
assumed that young people cannot be driven by godly motives.
(^) I am not sure what creates greater skepticism. Is it that teens can
know the fear of God, or that parents can teach it? I offer this
encouragement: If God wants your children to know the fear of God,
then surely those people he has charged with their instruction
(parents) can teach it.
(^) The teen who understands the fear of God will be delivered from
danger. He will possess wisdom. He will grow in the knowledge of
God.
Adherence to Parental Instruction