What I Want My Kids To Know
If you’re reading this, please know that it’s taken a long time for me to get here. For many years I’ve wanted to begin journaling and documenting for my children the most important truths and lessons I’m able to learn during however many trips around the sun God grants me. I used to believe that the greatest thing I could leave behind for my kids was a trust fund full of money, “heirlooms” that they could remember me by and a successful career that would make them proud when they talked about me. And while Proverbs 13:22 does say that “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children...” an inheritance worth inheriting should come with much more than the treasures so easily destroyed and stolen by moths and thieves (Mathew 6:19). I hope the words written here, and I trust them to be many, will be a defining piece of whatever legacy I’m blessed to leave. I’ve chosen to share those thoughts more publicly in hopes that you will find value in them as well. After all, we are all on similar journey’s and we all need to find encouragement wherever we can find it.
As a parent, and as someone who’s made tremendous personal mistakes, I don’t believe there is a greater gift I could leave behind for my kids than helping them learn to hear and discern the voice of their Creator. In Him is found all purpose, direction, meaning and confidence. It is in Him alone that we find our path and completeness in the person we were uniquely created to be. I have tried unsuccessfully to find my own meaning and purpose in things outside of Jesus and all of them have left me incredibly disappointed. My purpose (and yours) is not found in my marriage, my career, my financial success or my influence. It is only through Jesus that my marriage is complete, my career has meaning, my financial success blesses others, and my influence reflects onto the goodness and graciousness of God.
Our time on earth is filled with countless questions, problems, and challenges. Hopefully it is also filled with many moments of joy, laughter, fun and opportunity. While these things define our own time here circling the sun, they are but a small part of God’s greater redemption story for humanity. There is no honor greater or privilege more precious than to spend our lives playing our unique role in this grander plan – and we only can do that effectively if we hear learn to hear, discern and obey God’s voice above all else in our lives.
So, all that’s to follow is for you Caroline, Charlotte and Hudson. You are loved, known, special and created uniquely for an incredible purpose, that if you allow it will bless many and lead to a life that is rich and full in all the things that truly matter (Psalm 16:11).
What Really Matters – Philippians 3
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to speak at my grandfather’s funeral. Caroline, only you had been born at the time, and I vividly remember you throwing up all over the car on the way home. That was awesome! As I was thinking about what to say about “Ampa” as we called him, Philippians 3:1-21 is what God laid on my heart. The audience at that funeral was full of family who either had no relationship with Jesus or who’s faith had drifted over the years, and I love the message Paul delivers in this chapter, originally to the church at Philippi. It has since become a defining passage of scripture for me and a great reminder about where our strength and identity lie.
In verse three, Paul confirms the identity of the church in Philippi as true believers, who worship God, reflect His glory and “place no confidence in the flesh”. Paul goes on to tout his “earthly credentials”, the things that set him above the rest from a cultural perspective. He was born to the right family, he was a religious and community leader, he was a man who followed the Jewish law to perfection and someone who clearly stood out among the crowd of “normal” people. Yet, when Paul met Jesus in Acts 3, everything shifted. He went from finding his meaning, value, worth and importance in his credentials and instead in Christ.
I’ve been just like Paul too. I’ve tried so hard over the years to find my identity and meaning in the things I could use to “credential” myself. My success in earning money, getting a promotion, buying new stuff and growing my reputation and importance have all been areas of my life that I’ve made great gains to only wind-up empty inside. Instead, like Paul I’ve learned my identity can’t be found in anything I can earn, but only through what Christ offered me through His son Jesus on the cross.
Paul says in verses 7-9, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.
Paul had figured it out. Nothing in life is more valuable than intimately knowing and walking with Jesus. All the things he called out as reasons to be proud of himself, he now calls rubbish when held in comparison to knowing Christ. Paul learned, like I have (and continue too after many hard lessons) that our righteousness (our standing with God) and our self-worth are not found in what we earn, but rather in what Jesus did and our faith in Him. You will be tempted, like we all are to find your identity and purpose in many other things outside of Jesus. Don’t fall for it. It’s an empty road – a path I’ve been down, and I promise, its luster fades, its temporary pleasure leads to regret, and it is not what God desires for you. If though, you have found yourself, like I did on a road that leads to nowhere, please know that you are never too far for Jesus. You can stop right now, turn around and come home.
I love what Paul says in verses 12-14 “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it on my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Our journey isn’t about attaining perfection, it’s about the everyday pursuit of Christ; He is our ultimate prize in life. What’s more is that you already belong to him, and his hand will never let you go. So, as you traverse the ups and downs of life and perhaps find yourself in a situation or path you shouldn’t be on, remember, you belong to Christ and he has already forgiven you, just like he has me. We don’t deserve it, but I’m grateful for it.
