Our culture has a lot to say to our kids.
If you can run a 4.4 40, throw an accurate 95mph fastball, or consistently sink 18-foot jump shots, you’ve got potential.
Or . . . If you’ve got a 4.0 GPA with a 30+ ACT and acceptance letters from schools that reject more than they welcome.
Or maybe . . . if you look like this and dress like that and have a body shaped like her . . . that’s what matters.
Except it’s not, of course.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those, but when our children embrace those priorities above what really counts, they’re missing out on life’s most important lesson.
God told his people to love him with all of their heart, soul, and might, and then he said this:
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
What really counts?
Loving God.
I fear that sometimes we buy into the world’s lie, that we over-emphasize playing well and looking good, that we think success is getting out of college with a marketable degree and living the American dream.
That’s not success, not really.
Loving God with everything you’ve got is what matters, and we’ve got to take that job seriously as parents.
Our kids won’t learn it in study hall, on the athletic field, or on the beauty walk.
They’ll learn it from us. They’ll learn it from what we do, what we say, how we live, what we emphasize. They’ll learn it from a million conversations and choices and priorities. But when they learn it, it’ll be worth more than all the awards, medals, and crowns they’ll ever get.
They’ll live life to God’s glory and one day bow before him as he puts the eternal crown on their heads. —Chuck
0 Comments