Fear & Faithfulness
While fear certainly keeps us from jumping off of skyscrapers or putting our hand on a hot stove, fear makes a lousy motivator. Fear will prevent you from doing things you should and cause you to do something you shouldn’t.
You Need To Fight For It
More often than not, we’re fighting to be right. We think our perspectives are clearly right, and we want the other person to cave and surrender to our rightness. What if what you’re fighting for is totally wrong? What if while you’re fighting to be right, you’re going about it all wrong?
It Matters That You’re There
We don’t have a lot of forced conversations that come from different perspectives. Most of us engage in conversation that is comfortable and stays pretty much in the field of our point-of-view. We’re not creatures that generally seek out a challenge. But… we need to be challenged.
It’s Hard Work
It is, though, impossible to predict, from the sidelines, how much work parenting will be. You can’t simulate how the responsibility of leading a kid all day, every day affects you, your body, and your mind. It’s absolutely relentless.
It’s Not About You
One of the most subtle and, arguably, significant attacks we undergo is the over-inflation of our sense of worth and value. It’s simply pride. Pride will always make “me” more important than “we.”
I Choose Love
I can’t count the times I’ve asked my kids about the decisions they’re making. We want our children to grow up making wise choices. We help them learn to understand danger and consequences. While we ask our kids to make better choices, how many times do we need someone to ask us to make better decisions?
Our Greatest Loyalty
We teach our kids that it’s essential to be kind to strangers, respectful to their teachers, and lots of other useful things. We also show them, rightly so, that they are ultimately responsible for being obedient to their parents. They’ll get a new teacher next year, strangers will pass in a few seconds, but they’re stuck under the authority of their parents. In essence, we’re teaching our kids that there is a loyalty that matters more.
I Will Be Responsible On Social Media
With all the potential struggles involved in navigating social media, I still believe it’s a viable platform to connect and communicate with the appropriate guidelines. Let me share with you a few simple ideas that can help us do better…
I Won’t Believe Everything I Read On The Internet
Sometimes the fake news is what we read. Sometimes the fake news is what we think when we read it. Even more often, fake news is the story we tell ourselves.
I’d Rather Make A Difference
How do you really make a difference I’ll make this pretty simple: look to Jesus. Jesus saw you in a mess. He left the comforts of heaven. Released His rightful claim to equality with the Father and came to earth as a human, which He designed and created. He was the way out of our mess, but that would require the willful sacrifice of His own life. And… That’s just what He did. He looked at the people and the problem and made Himself the sacrifice to provide a solution.
Making a difference will always look like Jesus.
I’m Not Judging You
We need to maintain a critical eye over our own thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions. How often does that critical eye turn outward and become a critical heart? When our hearts cross that line, we become judge, and when you’re the judge you can no longer be a witness.
We Need Friends
We should rightly teach our kids to value and appreciate all other kids, regardless of their color, ethnicity, home life, affluence, or popularity. As a parent, I want my kid to sit next to the kid that has no friends, to play with the kid that’s alone, to have friends that look different, and to look for the value that everyone comes to the table with. Why is it, then, that if take a look at our own, personal community that we’ll find almost everyone looks like us, acts like us, believes like us, and shares our views?