Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT
Our culture is in great need of heroes, stories with sacrificial endings, inspiring lives of those who strain after all that is good, beautiful, and true. I consider my work of faithfulness a success when, in the hidden moments of life, I hear and see my children making hard choices--the choice to work hard to pay their bills, the choice to be moral and cultivate integrity in a world that gives permission to compromise, the decision to stay faithful in places the world or others would say "give up."
Some time ago, I was asked,
"Sally, I want your advice.
I have a great son, who is responsive to me and loving—but he is spending 6 hours a day playing computer games! My friends told me that is normal and just to leave him alone and know it is just boy stuff. What do you think?”
This from a sweet and intentional mom that I met last summer.
We live in a pretty mediocre culture. The voices of our culture in this contemporary world will most always give you permission to compromise your ideals, give up on commitments, escape the hard work, go the easy route. “Oh, they will be just fine—don’t interfere too much.”
But, there are not many examples of people to whom you can point your children and say …
“Look at that person—they have worked hard, sacrificed their lives, and accomplished something great in this world!”
If there were, we would be able to say to our children, "I believe God has designed you to give something great to your generation in your lifetime, too.”
I am convinced that if we, as mothers, understood that we have a capacity to work a little harder, give a little more and cultivate more intentionally, we would indeed be able to see greatness of soul and depth of faith arise out of our children’s lives. Nothing truly great is ever accomplished without great effort. We are, after all, charged with subduing a world that is in rebellion against God. By investing more time in our children, we are helping them mount up over inertia, laziness, bad habits, and self-centeredness, and giving them practice at developing good habits, skills, and abilities— all of which need to be intentionally nurtured, taught, modeled, and trained into them by their parents!
It takes more work than I had ever imagined. If a mom doesn’t want her thirteen-year-old son to be addicted to the computer, she will have to help him cultivate more captivating interests, and she will have to invest her personal time, money, sweat equity, and energy to do it. Excellence always requires us to go the extra mile.
Whether a sport, a musical skill, art, ministry, or some kind of academic or creative work, our children will be blessed if we invest the time it takes to give them more of a foundation of confidence in their souls, as we help them find a way to practice productivity, excellence of character, and the determination to take every moment captive for Him.
What we sow we will reap, what we don't sow, we won't reap. You and your children have the capacity to live into amazing abilities that God has created you to have. But you must exercise perseverance in your lives to become excellent and strong. The choice to work diligently is key--is your heart willing to do what it takes to become excellent in character or skills in life?
To find that “fit” for our children’s creativity, that activity that engages their heart, passions, and personality, will probably require us to give up some rights to our own time and invest in the future of our child’s productivity by taking the time now to help them cultivate their skills and interests and good habits.
It will require that we go that extra mile-but that extra mile will take them much further in their lives than can ever be measured.
This summer, take time to access your goals, your life, your story.