Never Too Late

Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:14

Lucille Lind Arnell tells a story about her mother, who raised nine children in Chicago during the thirties and forties. To get her family out of the house, “Mama” often took them on streetcar trips. When they lined up to get on board, the conductor sometimes let kids pass who were old enough to pay. Mama, who knew she could use every penny, never objected.

Years later, Mama began thinking about all those times her kids rode free on the trolley. She decided she’d been wrong to not pay their fares. So she sat down and composed a letter to the Chicago Transit Authority, then mailed it along with a ten-dollar bill (this was 1951, when ten dollars could have fed her family for two weeks). The transit authority responded with a note thanking Mama for her honesty. That letter, a tribute to one woman’s sense of integrity, now hangs in a place of honor in the home of one of her daughters.

Another aspect of character is the fervent desire to be found “blameless” before God. Though no one else may be aware of our transgressions, He knows where we stand—and He is always ready to forgive. Let’s show our children that it is never too late to do what is right.

Before you say good night…

Do you think “Mama” was right to confess her dishonesty?

Do you need to take any “forgotten” sins to the Lord?

Do your kids understand that it’s never too late to correct a wrong?

Heavenly Father, we so desire to be found blameless before You. Search our hearts and reveal any lingering sin, and help us to bring that to You in repentance. Let us be the examples of integrity for our children that You call us to be. Amen.

• From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
  Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Illustration adapted from God’s Little Devotional Book for Dads (Tulsa, Okla.: Honor Books, 1995).