Thought of the day
Paul's instructions to parents are simple on the surface: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). But underneath that verse is a bigger question: what's the actual finish line you're raising your kids toward?
Good grades, a strong work ethic, making the team, getting into a good school: none of that is wrong. Wanting your children to succeed is a good and normal thing to want. But it's worth asking honestly whether that same intentionality shows up when helping them follow Jesus, or whether that part has mostly been left to chance, or outsourced to a Sunday morning program.
Here's the good news buried in this week's whole theme: you don't need more moments. You need to notice the ones you already have . . .the drive home from practice . . .what happens after a bad game . . . how you respond when your kid messes up, and how you respond when you mess up in front of them. That's where they're actually learning what it looks like to live and love like Jesus, far more than from anything you've told them.
If the home in which you grew up didn't give you much of a pattern to follow, you don't have to repeat what was handed to you. That's the whole story this series has been telling. You were dead, but God. You were darkness, now you're light. Jesus changes stories, including the one your children are living inside of right now.
So here's the question to ponder this week: what are the people closest to you learning about Jesus by watching you? Not by what you've told them, but by what's become normal to watch. Today, give them one more thing worth watching.