Many times parents pretend because they are afraid they will lose their children’s respect and be viewed as weak if their children see them have problems. Well, guess what. You may fool little children by pretending, but with older children the only one you’re fooling is yourself. They see your mistakes and if you pretend otherwise you become what is known as a hypocrite. You will lose their respect if you pretend you are something you are not.
That does not mean we revel in sin or accept our problems as "just the way I am". It is incredibly important for our children to see that dad messes up, but he is trying to do what is right. Children are going to fail and mess up, too, and they need to know what to do when it happens. How are they going to learn how to deal with their own sins and shortcomings? Most likely from watching how their parents deal with it when they sin and come short.
Let’s stop pretending. Own up, man up and be big enough to admit that you are not as big as you should be. Denying sin is committing an additional sin. It is lying and some of need to sit down with our children and look at them face to face and apologize for lying to them. Some will be lost because of this life of hypocrisy, don’t be one of them.