I am so thankful for grandparents! I am one now, so I am seeing this whole grandchild versus children dynamic in a whole different light. Let me explain what I mean … parents are required to keep a strict hand on their children (I believe in the value of this) so that their children will learn limits and to behave in the family, church, and society. Grandparents, on the other hand, do not have the same pressure on them. That is not to say that grandparents have no responsibility when it comes to helping children to learn to behave, but the pressure to perform is much less with grandparents.
For example, when I was a boy, we moved in with my grandmother on my mother’s side when I was eight years old. We lived with her, or she lived with us however you want to look at it; for me it was a dream come true. The reason for this was extremely selfish. When we ate dinner, I would ask my grandmom to butter my bread. You see, if my mother buttered my bread, she would put the butter on, and then scrape the knife across the bread to thin out the butter. When grandmom put the butter on my bread, she laid it on thick! I love butter!
I found throughout my life that my grandmothers both excused a great deal of my faults to see only the best things in me. According to both my grandmothers, I was the best trumpet player in the world … the best preacher in the world … you get the idea. They overlooked all the bad notes I played. They overlooked my bad grammar and silly illustrations that did not fit the message. Their love for me allowed them to by-pass my short-comings to see the me they hoped would someday be the real me. They knew I was not perfect, but their desire to see me succeed far surpassed their knowledge of my faults.
Today I read something about the way God views each of us. “Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions” (Psalm 99:8). Do you see it? God knows the evil of our “inventions,” and He loves us in spite of them. The idea of the word “inventions” is our behavior. God knows all of our faults, but He chooses to forgive them anyway! Is that incredible, or what? A grandmother can overlook some faults, but God sees them directly, and chooses to forgive them! I love this truth.
I don’t need to try to hide my sins from God; that is impossible. I need to remember that He offers me forgiveness for all my sins if I will simply confess, repent, and forsake them … in spite of my sins … He loves me!