There is one passage that has really spoke to my heart on this subject of Pharisaical living in our kids (and us!). It's a passage that we should read and share often with our kids as we seek to keep them from the path of a Pharisee. It's the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14:
"He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
There have been many times that we have had conversations with our kids about the way they are looking at another person and the judgements they are making about him or her. We often remind them that, but for the grace of God, that could just as easily be them. And, if we are truly thinking Biblically, it IS them. God has made it clear in James 2:10 that "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point (he) has become accountable for ALL of it".
This is not just a lesson for my kids...it's a lesson that I need everyday, too.
Oh, may our homes be full of souls that are quick to say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!".
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