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马太福音18:6-7:“若有人叫这信我的一个小子跌倒，倒不如把大磨石拴在这人的颈项上，沉在深海里。”这世界有祸了，因为有许多事叫人跌倒。这样的事是免不了的，但那因他来的有祸了。
当耶稣抱着一个小孩子对他的门徒说话时，他用了多么有力的话语啊!这个词翻译过来就是“绊倒”，意思是“掉进死亡陷阱”。耶稣说，你若叫这信我的一个小孩子，失了信心和永远的救恩，倒不如把大磨石拴在你的颈项上，沉在深海里。
这个世界会把试探扔向我们的孩子，让他们绊倒，但我们怎么能做同样的事呢（我们有时是否也会把试探扔向我们的孩子呢）?我们以身作则、为孩子树立榜样，这是一把双刃剑，我们可能成为好榜样，也可能成为坏榜样。我们对上帝话语的态度将影响我们的孩子对上帝话语的态度。如果我不在乎上帝的话语，我的孩子为什么要在乎?如果我们抱怨我们的教会、牧师和教会里的人，我的孩子们就会听到这些话，很容易就会对任何教会失去兴趣（把他们的心向教会关闭起来）。
在《摇篮里的猫》这首歌里，男人从来没有时间陪他的孩子。他总是有借口的。当他老了，想要他的孩子们过来，孩子们没有时间陪他。在这首歌里，儿子说:“爸爸，我最终变成了和你一样的人。’那首歌一直萦绕在我的心头。我们希望我们的孩子最终变得和我们一样吗?不。也许应该像没有罪性的我一样成长。也许我们希望他们和我们一样，只是没有我们那些有罪的习惯。我的祷告一直是引导我的孩子们到耶稣那里，使他们能像他，而不是像我。
祷告:主耶稣，你今天对我说的话很严厉，也不容易听从。请原谅我在那些相信你的孩子面前放了一块绊脚石，无论是作为一个父亲还是一个牧师，无论是通过我的言语还是我的行动。我祈祷，我将永远引导他们走向你，因为只有在你身上，他们才能找到一个完美的救主和他们生命的榜样。阿们！
Matthew 18:6-7: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
What strong words Jesus uses when he has a small child in his arms and speaks to his disciples! The word that is translated to “stumble” is a word that means to “cause to fall into a death trap.” Jesus says that if you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to lose their faith and their eternal salvation, it would be better if you had a millstone hung around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.
The world will throw things at our children and cause them to stumble, but how might we do the same? We lead by example, both by a good example and also by a wicked example. My attitude about the Word of God will shape my children’s attitude. If I care nothing for the Word, why should my children care? If I complain about my church and the pastor and the people in it, my children hear these things and can easily be turned off to belonging to any church.
In the song “Cats in the Cradle,” the man never has time for his children. There is always an excuse. And when he gets old and wants his children to come by, the children do not have time for him. In the song, the son says, “I turned out just like you, dad.” That song has always haunted me. Do I want my children to turn out just like me? No. Maybe the me without my sinful habits. Maybe the me without my weaknesses. My prayer has always been that I have led my children to Jesus so that they can be like him, and not like me.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your words to me today are hard and not easy to hear. Forgive me for ever putting a stumbling block in front of those little ones that believe in you, whether by my words or my actions, either as a father or as a pastor to your people. I pray that I will always lead them to you, because only in you will they find a perfect Savior and a model for their lives. Amen.