Imitating God in warning and promises

Parents (and all who deal with children) inevitably encounter the challenge of consistency. They need to follow through on their word. Yet there are times that it is appropriate not to follow through on a spoken promise or punishment.

The LORD revealed this to Jeremiah for the instruction of the people against whom Jeremiah was prophesying:

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I intended to do to it. (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

As God relents of disaster when people repent, and relents of good when people do evil, so parents have the privilege of mirroring the character of God to their children. If we, as parents, act toward our children as God acts toward us, they will learn that our word -and His - is indeed true. If they continue in a given path, they will receive the promised punishment or blessing; but if they turn from the good path, they will not receive blessing, and if they turn from the evil path, they will not receive disaster.

If we imitate God in our warnings and promises, our children will see in us the faithfulness, mercy and justice of God that is not capricious, but utterly truthful. If we utter threats that we do not follow through, or make promises that we do not fulfill, we will have very little weight when we tell our children them that God, our Father, is faithful. However, our imitation of God may be the instrument of the Holy Spirit to awaken our children to His faithful warnings and promises. How we speak to our children in warnings and promises - and how we follow through - is no light matter.