One of our favourite TV shows is ‘Outnumbered’, a series which looks at family life through the eyes of two parents and three children. Karen, the youngest daughter, is ruthlessly honest in her appraisal of situations and can spot double talk and hypocrisy a mile off. She is intensely logical in her understanding of cold callers and her scene with the nurse is immensely practical! We laugh at such scenes because we recognise the double standards adults so often use in talking to children, but we need to understand that God doesn’t want us to be people of double standards. He wants us to be people of character, people who will live well and right and who will pass on to the next generation God’s standards by living these out in plain view, day by day. We won’t get it right all the time, but that’s where honesty and humility come into play, because we have to be big enough to admit our faults and failings and ask for forgiveness from each other as well as from God.
Proverbs 1:7 says ‘Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God.’ We need to pass on an awareness that God is the central reality of life and that He matters.
1 John 3:11 summarises the message we’ve heard from the beginning, that we should ‘love one another’. We need to pass on an awareness that people matter. No matter what our IQ, our ability to work hard and earn money, where we live, what we do for a living, we need to let the next generation know that people matter because they are made in God’s image and are loved by God, and that life isn’t about what we own or possess but about how well we love.
The parable of the Sower talks about the different kinds of soil there are and how these represent different responses to God’s Word. The shallow soil, where there is no soil of character, means that God’s life can’t grow well. (Matt 13:1-25) We need to pass on the fact that character matters. Character, reputation, who we really are is ultimately all we have to pass on to the next generation. Prov 22:1 says ‘a good name is more desirable than great riches.’ If we can teach what Christian character really looks like by living this out in our own lives, people will see and believe and have a good grasp on reality.
In all these things, however, we acknowledge our inability to do any of this in our own strength and our reliance on God. We can’t live God’s life in our own strength. The good news is that we don’t have to. Instead, God binds Himself to us in a never-failing covenant and pours out His life, His goodness, His breath, His power into our lives. We live under grace, not the law. We have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Rom 6:18) We have hope because of all that God is and all He has done and continues to do. The legacy we pass on to the next generation can, as a result of this, be positive, powerful and permanent.
Our prayers are with Stephen and Stacey as they seek to pass on these truths to Esther.
We also had a birthday to celebrate:
