Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Thursday February 19 2026
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3 John 4-I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Sadly, more and more people are leaving the church and Christianity. Indeed, many of the ones leaving are the ones that are raised in Christian homes.
“Needless to say, when we had questions about the epidemic of people leaving church, we turned to him for answers. Our goal was simple: We wanted to know who was leaving, why they were leaving, and what (if anything) could be done about it. To that end, Britt and his America’s Research Group initiated a qualified study with probing questions to get powerful insight into the epidemic the Church is facing. To get to the core of the issues, his team studied only those whom we are most concerned about: every person in our sample said they attended church every week or nearly every week when they were growing up, but never or seldom go today. We selected those between 20 and 30 who once attended conservative and “evangelical” churches. We wanted to look at the churches that claim to be Bible-believing congregations with Bible-preaching pastors.…After 20,000 phone calls, with all the raw data in hand, Britt began to analyze the numbers. The things he discovered– as well as the things he didn’t discover – began to shed light (in a quite astonishing way) on this monumental problem facing the future of Christianity.…We’ve always been trying to prepare our kids for college (and I still think that’s a critical thing to do, of course), but it turns out that only 11 percent of those who have left the Church were still attending during the college years. Almost 90 percent of them were lost in middle school and high school. By the time they got to college they were already gone! About 40 percent are leaving the Church during elementary and middle school years! Most people assumed that elementary and middle school is a fairly neutral environment where children toe the line and follow in the footsteps of their parents’ spirituality. Not so. I believe that over half of these kids were lost before we got them into high school! Whatever diseases are fueling the epidemic of losing our young people, they are infecting our students much, much earlier than most assumed. Let me say this again: We are losing many more people by middle school and many more by high school than we will ever lose in college.” (Ken Ham, Todd Hillard, Britt Beemer, Already Gone, 27-31 (Kindle Edition): Green Forest, AR: Master Books)
The doubts and self-incriminations of parents and ministers especially can be difficult.
“Where did I mess up?”
“What didn’t I do right?”
“Is there anything I can do now?”
How can a person deal with such doubts?
First, we must remember that it is possible for a parent to raise their children in the Lord, and then the children depart when they get older. The Lord told the Prophet Ezekiel that sometimes this is a sad reality, and parents are not to blame for the choices of their children.
Ezekiel 14:14-Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 18:20-The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
There may be many reasons why a person leaves the faith. Sometimes they are confronted with the unbelief of the world and do not know how to respond (Isaiah 1:18), or perhaps they are angry with God over some trails which they do not understand (like the great patriarch Job: see James 5:11). Perhaps sometimes the allure of the world is stronger then a person’s love for the Lord.
Matthew 24:12-And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
2 Timothy 4:9-10-Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.
Were you perfect in how you raised your children?
No, because no one is perfect.
Please give yourself grace and stop tormenting yourself for the decisions of your adult children. They are responsible for their own decisions.
Second, keep the doorways open. Let your children know that you love them and that you are there for them, no matter what choices that they make. Even in matters of church discipline, we are exhorted to reminder to bear each other gently.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15-And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Children are perhaps ashamed of how they have failed, and they are concerned that they won’t be received with mercy but criticism if they return. Let them know your love in word and in action. Doesn’t God treat us with this kind of grace?
James 1:5 (TPT)-And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.
The Lord is a, “I’m glad you came home” kind of God, not a, “I told you so, you unruly brat” type of God.
Luke 15:20-24-And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Third, keep the prayers going. Our Lord is always listening to the prayers of His people, and He delights in them.
Proverbs 15:8-The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
2 Chronicles 16:9-For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.…
Fourth, lean on your church family for support, encouragement, and prayer. We need each other!
Romans 15:5-7-Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
Romans 15:14 (ERV)-My brothers and sisters, I know without a doubt that you are full of goodness and have all the knowledge you need. So you are certainly able to counsel each other.
Don’t give up.
What are some things that we can do to try and encourage those whose children have left the faith? What can we do to try and help bring them back to the Lord?
Lord, bless the parents and the children, young and old. We need You. Amen.