“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3 NLT)
As adults, we want the children in our circles to live such that we can express how proud we are of how they have accomplished goals and attained success and accumulated skills and abilities beyond our own. We love to comment on their good choices, good lifestyles, and good attention to the fact that God is the One who has generously blessed them with gifts and great teachings that have served as their foundation for living. For every step of progress they make and for every sign of resilience they show when facing obstacles, we articulate how proud we are of our children.
Being proud for the aforementioned reasons is a great awesome feeling. Nobody should criticize you for such feelings. But, just don’t be arrogant or make it a camouflaged type of self-pride. When you express that you are proud of a child, don’t seek self gratification or look for a swift pat on the back for how you contributed to their positive development. Make the proud about the child.
More importantly, keep in mind while we can be proud of our children, regardless of the relationship, you should be behaving in such a way that we let them be proud of you. After all you have a calling to set good examples that make them proud of you. Children should be proud of your behavior as a believer and follower of Christ; seeing you emulate His ways and character. They should be proud of how you carry out your calling as described in the verses above.
So I leave you with one challenge today, a clear challenge that you should pass on to any parent, grandparent, guardian, babysitter, teacher, or persons who are adult role models for our children: “Let them be proud of you!” Meditate on this challenge and make any changes; adjustments in your life that will help you accomplish the challenge. Be blessed!
“And here you yourself must be an example to them of good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth and the fact that you are in dead earnest about it.” (Titus 2:7 TLB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King