September 24, 2015

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

In my message last Sunday I shared three fundamental truths you must teach your kids. This week I will share three attitudes or characteristics Home Run Kids must demonstrate. 

Today I will comment on the first:

HONESTY

Sin is always rooted in a lie. Sin originated in a lie and has corrupted the human nature with flawed judgment. Our human instinct is to lie in order to save ourselves. It is natural to tell ourselves lies.

We want to lie but we hate being lied to. We want to live in a world where we can lie but everyone else must tell the truth. Such is the depravity that plagues us.

When you lie you lose because:

• ·  Lies break reliability. One lie breaks trust and each successive lie further erodes your trustworthiness.
• ·   Lies break relationships. People can’t trust a liar and it is hard to love someone you can’t trust.
• ·   Lies blur reality. A lie originates in a false reality and moves further from it. Lucifer really thought he “could be like the most high” – not really!

Parents committed to raising Home Run Kids must confront the dishonesty bred into their fallen nature and speak truth into their life.

How do you do that?

Pastor Kevin Myers, who wrote “Home Run Life”, shares a successful strategy he employed with his kids.  He declared “when one lies everyone lies”.

When he caught his kid in a lie he would confront them with their lie and then say something like, “Ok, if you can lie to me then I will lie to you. Remember when I promised you that new bike for your birthday? I lied. And, remember when I said you could go to the sleep over Friday night? I lied. And, oh, remember when I promised to take you to the Braves game tonight? I lied.

Kids want to know they can count on their parents. When they see the effect of their lying it may cause them to reconsider.

Kids need to learn that sin has consequences and it should cost them something when they lie. For Kevin’s kids this approach worked.

The ultimate goal for parents seeking to Raise Home Run Kids is to keep kids from lying to themselves. That is a Home Plate and First Base issue.

Step up to the plate!