Is repentance a way of life for you? Are you modeling it to your children?

Joel Beeke explains in this video that that repentance is very practical -- it is a daily practice and children need to see it modeled by their parents. He encourages parents to not be parents who believe that they are “always right.” He shares that when his son was 3 years old, his son asked him why he never sinned. He immediately explained that he was a sinner and that he needed forgiveness just as much as his son did.  

We need to explain to our children that we are sinners just as much as they are and that we all need grace constantly. Every Christian should live in faith and repentance. That’s what conversion involves. It should be a natural way of life for us. It should be a daily practice.  

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NKJV) – “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

So repentance is very practical. It's a daily thing. And children need to see it modeled by their parents. They need to receive it from their parents. And children are really resolute, they'll forgive you easily when you ask for it.

So don't try to be that parent that goes around and is always right. You know, when my son was three years old, I had to spank him for something, took him over into a separate room. I never disciplined one child in front of the others. And I talked to him and told him I was going to spank him twice for the gravity of the moral infraction. Explained that to him.

And I spanked him twice. Of course, then I embraced him. I prayed with him and we walked out of the room holding hands closure As we walked out of the room, he looked up to me. I'll never forget it He said he said dad, how come you never sit? Son I'm a sinner just like you and then I said let's go back a little I'm gonna explain this to you Set him down.

I said your dad needs forgiveness. Just as much as you do My heart my nature is just as bad as yours. I'm a sinner too. I live only by the grace of Jesus Christ. Don't you ever think that your dad doesn't sin?

I wish it were true son But it's not I'm a sinner So, please forgive me for every time But I don't treat you right but God helping me I want to treat you the way God would have me to treat you and I'll try to do the best I can. Looking to God for grace and I'm going to sin and you're gonna find it out as I grow as you grow up son. Your dad's a sinner too. You see, I'm not only saying the truth to Him, but I'm molding Him to understand we're all sinners, we all need to repent, we all need grace. Constantly, this should be the natural habitat in which we live.

You know, I'm a bird watcher, We've been watching birds since we were young. And every bird, you know, has its own habitat. Some are in swamps, some are in open fields, some are by the ocean's edge. Every Christian should live in his natural habitat in faith and repentance. That's what conversion is, faith and repentance.

So it should be natural for me to just believe in Christ and trust Him, natural for me to repent of my sins and forsake them, confess them to God and find deliverance in Christ every day. Every day I need forgiveness. So Is repentance a way of life for you? That's the question.