Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for your children and for the unity of your home is clear, and it is right to bring it to the Lord so fully. The exhaustion, division and disrespect you describe are painful to carry, especially when you see a child you raised to be gracious and humble and thankful now acting in a way that is harsh and ungrateful, and when you see that pattern affecting her work, her faith and her relationships with you and her siblings.
Scripture shows that God knows how to deliver the righteous even when they are vexed by the manner of life around them. Lot was not a perfect man and his family was not thoroughly righteous, yet God in mercy led him out and set him apart from judgment. Peter points to that deliverance to remind us that the Lord knows how to rescue those who are His while reserving the ungodly for judgment. In the same way, the Lord puts a hedge around His people and gives His angels charge over them. When that protection is in place the enemy cannot simply break through, and when we stay in the love of God we remain under His covering. To walk away from His ways is to move outside that place of protection, which is why the call to keep ourselves in His love is so important.
That is why your concern for your older daughter is so urgent. Living together outside of marriage is not marriage in God's eyes. Marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and sexual union and shared household life belong within that covenant alone. When that boundary is ignored, the door is opened to deception, manipulation, financial exploitation and spiritual bondage. It creates a false sense of obligation and commitment where none exists before God. This young man is not her husband, not her father and not her head, and she does not owe him the loyalty and obedience that belong to a husband. She does not need to change her faith or leave the church where she was raised to please another family, and she does not need their approval or guidance when God has already blessed her with a supportive family that raised her in His ways. The pressure she feels to defend him, to provide for him, to put him and his mother before you, her siblings, her job and her faith is not from the Lord.
You have also seen how powerful an ungodly influence can be, especially from a mother figure. Scripture gives a sobering example of a mother whose pride and selfishness led her own son into evil and helped create a tyrant. An older woman who mocks prayer, criticizes godly parenting, encourages disrespect toward a mother and coaches a young woman to live together and even to have children before marriage is exercising an authority she does not have. Her jealousy and manipulation are rooted in pride, and it is right to ask the Lord to expose those motives and to frustrate every plan that seeks to divide, isolate and corrupt your family.
For your younger daughter, the warning is similar to what happened when Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land and was drawn into harm. A young woman who is bright, faithful and focused on her studies and on a godly courtship needs protection from those who would prey on her good character and present an ungodly example as normal. Pray that she will not be unequally yoked but will wait for a spouse who honors the Lord and values the sanctity of marriage, and that she will stay surrounded by family and godly friends who encourage her to honor her parents and remain thankful.
For your son, be assured that his life is precious and deeply loved by God. He is not a burden or an embarrassment but a blessing. Every spirit of hatred, mockery and exclusion directed toward him is evil, and the Lord sees it. Ask the Lord to anoint your home, every room and every corner, with His light, to grant peace that surpasses understanding, to give wisdom to you and to those who care for him, and to restore the loving bond he once shared with his sister.
I join you in praying that the Lord will plead your cause against this ungodly influence and deliver you from the deceitful and unjust pressures at work. May He frustrate every scheme to divide and isolate, break the stubborn hold and false obligation that has blinded your older daughter, open her eyes to the red flags she has ignored and to the harm this environment is doing to her health, finances and future, and gently guide her back to putting Christ first, honoring her parents and following biblical teaching. May He restore the years that have been stolen, heal what has been wounded and guard your hearts and minds with His peace. May He keep your younger daughter steadfast and your son covered in joy, provide for your home according to His riches so you may be a blessing to others, and in His time bring godly spouses for your daughters who will love them as Christ loves the church.
The Lord fights for you. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Continue to plead the blood of Jesus over your family, to put on the full armor of God and to trust Him to do what only He can do.
Scripture shows that God knows how to deliver the righteous even when they are vexed by the manner of life around them. Lot was not a perfect man and his family was not thoroughly righteous, yet God in mercy led him out and set him apart from judgment. Peter points to that deliverance to remind us that the Lord knows how to rescue those who are His while reserving the ungodly for judgment. In the same way, the Lord puts a hedge around His people and gives His angels charge over them. When that protection is in place the enemy cannot simply break through, and when we stay in the love of God we remain under His covering. To walk away from His ways is to move outside that place of protection, which is why the call to keep ourselves in His love is so important.
That is why your concern for your older daughter is so urgent. Living together outside of marriage is not marriage in God's eyes. Marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and sexual union and shared household life belong within that covenant alone. When that boundary is ignored, the door is opened to deception, manipulation, financial exploitation and spiritual bondage. It creates a false sense of obligation and commitment where none exists before God. This young man is not her husband, not her father and not her head, and she does not owe him the loyalty and obedience that belong to a husband. She does not need to change her faith or leave the church where she was raised to please another family, and she does not need their approval or guidance when God has already blessed her with a supportive family that raised her in His ways. The pressure she feels to defend him, to provide for him, to put him and his mother before you, her siblings, her job and her faith is not from the Lord.
You have also seen how powerful an ungodly influence can be, especially from a mother figure. Scripture gives a sobering example of a mother whose pride and selfishness led her own son into evil and helped create a tyrant. An older woman who mocks prayer, criticizes godly parenting, encourages disrespect toward a mother and coaches a young woman to live together and even to have children before marriage is exercising an authority she does not have. Her jealousy and manipulation are rooted in pride, and it is right to ask the Lord to expose those motives and to frustrate every plan that seeks to divide, isolate and corrupt your family.
For your younger daughter, the warning is similar to what happened when Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land and was drawn into harm. A young woman who is bright, faithful and focused on her studies and on a godly courtship needs protection from those who would prey on her good character and present an ungodly example as normal. Pray that she will not be unequally yoked but will wait for a spouse who honors the Lord and values the sanctity of marriage, and that she will stay surrounded by family and godly friends who encourage her to honor her parents and remain thankful.
For your son, be assured that his life is precious and deeply loved by God. He is not a burden or an embarrassment but a blessing. Every spirit of hatred, mockery and exclusion directed toward him is evil, and the Lord sees it. Ask the Lord to anoint your home, every room and every corner, with His light, to grant peace that surpasses understanding, to give wisdom to you and to those who care for him, and to restore the loving bond he once shared with his sister.
I join you in praying that the Lord will plead your cause against this ungodly influence and deliver you from the deceitful and unjust pressures at work. May He frustrate every scheme to divide and isolate, break the stubborn hold and false obligation that has blinded your older daughter, open her eyes to the red flags she has ignored and to the harm this environment is doing to her health, finances and future, and gently guide her back to putting Christ first, honoring her parents and following biblical teaching. May He restore the years that have been stolen, heal what has been wounded and guard your hearts and minds with His peace. May He keep your younger daughter steadfast and your son covered in joy, provide for your home according to His riches so you may be a blessing to others, and in His time bring godly spouses for your daughters who will love them as Christ loves the church.
The Lord fights for you. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Continue to plead the blood of Jesus over your family, to put on the full armor of God and to trust Him to do what only He can do.
