Explain to your child the consequences of drugs and alcohol and apply these to their daily life. How would being high affect extra-curricular activities or academic performance? Will drug and alcohol use stop the pursuit of personal goals?
When the Prodigal Son came to his senses and decided to return home, his father saw him approaching from a distance. The father then did something that was, at that time, culturally surprising. He extended unconditional forgiveness.
The lost son knew that his father was a fair man, and that he was better off being his father’s hired hand than out on the streets. So the Prodigal Son made his decision to go home based on what he knew about his father: that he was a man of honor and character. He knew his father would treat him at least as fairly as he treated his hired hands.
Will your child be able to return home when she comes to her senses? Will your love for your child overcome your disappointment, your need to judge and your desire to control him or her? Or will you hold on to your pain or hold their mistakes over them? The parable of the prodigal son is clear: God, the Father, does not hold it against us. What then, does this say for us as parents?
Will your child be able to turn to an internal moral compass after making a wrong turn as the lost son did in the Parable of the Prodigal Son? This parable contains insight into God’s plan for spiritual parenting. Somewhere along the way, the son “came to his senses” and realized his path was wrong. This moral compass brought him home.