"I did that growing up, and I turned out alright." ~pick the person
How many times have you heard those words?
It worked for my generation.
We got to do that.
What is so bad about ..., we aren't that bad.
Pick your version. As a parent we make many decisions on how to raise our children every single day. We have all heard these sayings in one form or another.
Well, you know what!?! I don't want my kids to be "alright"!!!
I want my kids to have life more abundantly.
There is a thief that is in our world to steal, kill and destroy. Am I just trying to get my kids through life? Is alright enough?
NO!
Jesus is not just "alright". He is ABUNDANT!
There is more to life than alright. I don't want to get to heaven and have to tell God, "Well, they are alright, aren't they? They aren't breaking the Big 10. They are good people."
What would I hear? "Good doesn't have anything to do with it. It is all about Jesus! If they aren't living life for Him, then they aren't alright. What have they missed out on by being alright instead of abundant. I came for them to have life more abundantly!"
God's rules aren't here to make life hard and boring. They are here for me to have freedom! For me to have abundance! I want more than "alright"! I want JESUS! I want my kids to have Jesus!
Just because something is good, doesn't mean it is edifying. Just because it doesn't "hurt" in the moment, doesn't mean that it is life giving for the next moment.
We live in a world of do what feels good and you will be alright. What feels good isn't always what is good. It isn't life giving and abundant!
Am I feeding my children life or alright?!
I'm not talking food here (although that is definitely something to consider!), I am talking about everything that is in our day. The people we spend time with. The amount of time we spend in the Word and in prayer. The media that we allow to fill our children's minds. The activities that we allow them to engage in.
Even more than my children, I must look at myself!
Is my life "alright" or abundant?
Am I doing things because it's alright for her, so it must be alright for me?
Is Jesus my measuring stick?
Is my life putting in my children a desire to have life abundantly or to be alright?
I choose to let Jesus take over and give me life more abundantly! Only through surrender can He have control. He has to pull out the weeds in my garden (the next post on my heart, so stay tuned).
Love, Michelle
