How Do I Deal with My Rebellious TeenSample

A Reflection of His Love

If you have a rebellious teenager who consistently and habitually disobeys his parents, you have a child that is presenting evidence that he doesn’t know Christ. He is not a believer. What do you do then? You evangelize to them. You preach the Gospel to them. And by “preach” I mean, you converse with them about the gospel. You continue to introduce Christ and pray for them. It’s easy to underestimate the prayer aspect of evangelizing your teen. The most powerful thing you can engage in, outside of conversations about Christ, is to continue to pray for them. Look for opportunities as the Lord opens doors for you to continue to pour His love into their lives.

Love your children! I think it is important for them to know that your love for them is love for them. Too often parents parent for their own glory. They are more concerned about their reputation than they are about their child’s soul. 

I’ve told parents before, and I’m not going to say it would be easy to live through, but if my reputation was trashed and all my children eventually came to faith in Christ, I would take that over a sterling reputation and having one of my children in hell one day. 

I’m not sovereign. I cannot save my children, but I will work for their salvation in the sense of 

• preaching the gospel to them
• living the gospel before them 
• praying for them
• loving them 

Outside of that, I can’t control the outcome. So, we look to the Lord for His faithfulness.