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No Greater Joy

A few weeks ago, I was up with my newborn son in the wee hours of the morning.  Everyone else in the house was still asleep (which I honestly wished I was too!)  However, I’ve learned that these times with a new baby are some of the most precious moments a mother could have.

As I was rocking him to sleep and reading the Bible, I came across the following verse: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4)  Wow, I thought to myself as I looked at my 6 ½ pound baby, nestled in my arms, peacefully sleeping… what else could, I, as his mother want?

If I were to raise up polite, “good” kids, who didn’t walk in the truth would that be okay?  If I raised up the next great NBA basketball player, a doctor, a teacher or the next President of the United States, but they didn’t walk according to God’s truth, His Word, would there be such joy as John is referring to?

Since the fall in the garden, there has always been an attack on what is truth.  Look around you, from our political leaders, local schools, lobbyist groups, TV shows, Hollywood, etc., there is a constant battle for truth.  But there is only one truth.  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6)

So as we desire that our children walk in the truth, we must consciously train up our children in the way that they should go.  There is no neutrality.  There is no truth for me and a different truth for you and your family and another truth defined by the neighbor down the street.

If we truly desire to rejoice in our children walking in the truth, we must teach, train and engage our children with God’s Word.  It won’t happen by merely hoping our kids will walk in the truth.   It won’t happen if we go to church on Sunday but let the Xbox, I-pad, or TV teach the world’s definition of truth to our children the rest of the week.  Rather, we must spend time with our children, modeling our faith and teaching them how to walk in truth.

Every day, since the day I brought my daughter, Ivy, home from the hospital, when changing her diaper, I would ask her, “Who made you?”  Of course she couldn’t respond for the first 11 months.  But that didn’t stop me from asking her.  After I would ask her, I would simply respond by saying, “God did.”  One day, to my great surprise and joy, after asking her that very important question (knowing that God made you, rather than that you are the result of random chance is critical in learning truth), Ivy responded, “God did.”

Though Ivy doesn’t yet understand what this all means, it doesn’t stop me from teaching her the very basics of truth, which is defined by God and found in His Word.  Don’t wait until you think your children are old enough or interested enough to understand.   Be diligent and start when they are little.

For me, I can honestly say that there is nothing more important to me than that my children walk faithfully, trusting and obeying God all the days of their lives.   What about you?  What about your children?

I know my children are not perfect and never will be.  I know as a parent that I am far from perfect and will never be (no matter how hard I try).  But my prayer to God, every morning, in the wee hours of the morning, as I gaze at the miracle and blessing in my arms, is that my children will walk in truth, that they will glorify God all the days of their lives!

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