I remember being at a swimming pool as a child when someone twice my size got upset and grabbed me and held me under water. After a while my lungs burned and screamed for air.

Have you ever had a similar experience? If so, then you can especially appreciate how serious God is in Matthew 18:6 about causing someone to stumble. “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

This verse should be terrifying to a dad who might cause his child to stumble. Fathers, whom God holds especially accountable for raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), are often the very ones who cause their own children to stumble, to doubt, or to seek after the world.

We can do this through:

• bad or careless decisions
• things we may bring into the home
• what we allow our children to watch on media
• what we allow them to participate in

Steve