Next time you’re enjoying a picnic at the local park, silently count the little kiddo’s zooming around in the play area. According to current research, 2.7 million children in the United States have an incarcerated parent. In other words, one-in-28 American children have a parent convicted of a crime and serving time. Just 25 years ago, the number was one-in-125…not a particularly encouraging trend.

My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 6:20

Only Jesus had a perfect father: everyone else has human Moms and Dads that struggle with brokenness and failure. Likewise, most of you that have become parents are painfully aware of your own faults and foibles, yet the Bible is clear: you are to train your children to follow your example. It may sound like a hopeless cycle of inadequacy, but it’s not. Jesus’ power over death bought you power over the chains of generational calamity.

What can you do? First, be careful to model a compassionate devotion in faith. Then pray that God will stop the succession of sin and intervene in this nation’s future: understand that tomorrow’s leaders are charting their course today. Most importantly, believe that, with God’s blessing, it is possible for America’s next generation to become America’s best generation.

Recommended Reading: Philippians 3:13-17