Moment By Moment
What are Your Children Inheriting?
Have you seen the bumper sticker?
“We’re out spending our children’s inheritance?”
Some of us might say, the children’s inheritance will depend upon how much we have left!
But the inheritance I want to talk about today is not what you leave to them after you’re gone, such as money, material possessions or real estate. The inheritance that I speak of is what they are inheriting from you right now.
What they are inheriting from us right now is far more important than any amount of money, property, or anything else that we could give them. Those things are temporary; the inheritance that I’m talking about is eternal.
Every day, bit by bit, piece by piece our children are inheriting things from us that mold the way they believe, behave, and think. The things that we are passing along to them, passing down to them, are molding them.
1--Children will inherit your Principles.
First graders were asked to draw a picture of God in their class at church. Their finished products contained some interesting theology. One kid had God depicted in the form of a brightly colored rainbow. Another presented Him as an old man coming out of the clouds. An intense little boy drew God with a remarkable resemblance to Superman. But the best snapshot came from a little girl. She said, “I didn’t know what God looked like, so I just drew a picture of my daddy.”
When our children look at us, do they see God in us?
We need to teach our children about God.
Before we can teach our children about God, we must first have a relationship with Him. We can’t expect our children to believe something that we don’t. Loving God does not come naturally; it must be taught. The family is the ideal place to teach the love of God.
Impressions made early are lasting ones. In Deuteronomy 6, we are encouraged to share our spiritual values within our families. The reality is values are going to be “caught” as much as they’re going to be “taught” in the daily routine of life. We as parents often teach when we least realize it. Spiritual values are better “caught” than “taught.” So, spend a lot of time with your family.
We need to teach our children about relationships.
Children learn how to build relationships from us.
The way that you treat your spouse shows your children how to treat their future spouse or how they should be treated by a spouse. Are we forgiving? Are we helpful? Are we kind? Are we rude or condescending?
The value we place on family and friends will also be taught to our children. Do we put family first? Are we available to help others when needed? Do we celebrate others’ successes? Do we tear others down with our words?
We need to teach them about responsibility.
People have become experts at playing the blame game. Everyone, it seems, wants to blame someone or something else for their problems. We must teach our children to be responsible and to assume responsibility for their own actions.
2--Children will inherit your Priorities.
Where do our priorities lie? Where are our treasures?
Matthew 6:19-21 says, ““Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Our children are like arrows. Until we release them as adults, we must spend time polishing them, sharpening them, straightening them, and aiming them in the direction of God’s will. One day we will release that arrow, and to hit the mark, we must make sure they are aimed properly.
Our kids need to know that Jesus is more important than sports. Jesus is more important than making money, fishing or hunting, or going to the lake. Kids watch our actions more than they listen to our words.
There are many things that have a negative impact upon our children, but none more than the breakdown of the family structure. We need to pass down to our children the importance of family and being together.
Children spell love…T-I-M-E.
How much time do we spend with our children?
This is hard because many of us have jobs that keep us away from our families. Our aim tends to be quality not quantity. Funny, we’d never try that same argument with our boss, would we? Try telling him that you’re going to give him 1 quality hour of work today and see how long you have a job.
Unfortunately, we can never predict a teachable moment with our child. That’s not intended to cause guilt but to make us reflect on what is important.
3—Children will inherit your Practices.
The bus was packed on a hot summer afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona. The traffic was heavy, and the passengers were impatient. Soon a man became irate that he was going to be late for a meeting and started cursing. As he passed the driver to exit the bus at his stop, the bus driver said to him, “Sir, you’ve left something behind.” The man turned to look back, and the driver continued, “You left behind a bad impression.”
What kind of impressions are we leaving on and with our children by our actions and attitudes?
They are inheriting our practices every day. It’s foolish to think that we can live one way and expect our children to live another.
If we attend church, more than likely our children will…
If we pray, more than likely our children will…
If we curse, lie, steal, more than likely our children will…
Children are a special gift from God. We were all children at some time, and God gave us to our parents as a special gift. Maybe they neglected that gift, and maybe they didn’t. But the truth is we are special in God’s sight. He welcomes us into His family by faith in Him. Your children are a special gift to you. Don’t neglect them. Love them and cherish them, and of course, direct them. Direct them to love, honor, respect, and obey God. We do this by our example, by teaching them, by bringing them to church, and by reading them His word.
Reflect for a moment on your relationship with your children. How is it? What are they inheriting from you? Is your faith the way that you would like it to be to pass it along to your children? How about your priorities? What about your practices? Would you be pleased and proud to see your children practicing what you practice?
If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, the most significant thing you can do is start one. He’s waiting for you and wants nothing more. If you do have a relationship with Jesus, the most significant thing you can do is continue to build that relationship. Invite Jesus into every area of your life and seek His wisdom. If you have let your relationship with Jesus become stagnant, the most significant thing you can do is call out to Him. He’s never left you.
