Thursday, September 24, 2015

September 25, 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

If Raising Home Run Kids was easy there would be a lot of them and our culture would be on an upswing. That doesn’t seem to be the case.

As I mentioned Sunday, raising kids is a bit of a misnomer because we our end game is to raise healthy adults. It takes healthy adults with an intentional plan for raising up the next generation of healthy adults.

There are three virtues that need to be trained into Home Run Kids. Yesterday I dealt with the first one, honesty. Today I comment on the second one; thankfulness.

Darling adorable little newborns enter the world completely and utterly self-centered. Growing larger and older does nothing to curb that tendency. Selfishness must be disciplined out of the nature of each child. There are a number of reasons selfishness must be confronted in a child.

Selfishness leads to ingratitude. Ungrateful people are unhappy, unsatisfied and discontented people. That is not Home Run Kid Material. That is home to third base runner material.

Selfishness leads to inconsiderate kids. When a kid is primarily centered on his own interests, concerns and desires he has little left for others. This is not Home Run Kid material.

Selfishness leads to impatient kids. Self-centered kids tend to be self-indulgent kids who want what they want and they want it now. This kid will never make it out of the dugout.

Selfishness leads to impulsive kids. Self-centered kids are not into delayed gratification. They will fall prey to being manipulated into make emotional decisions. That’s not a winning formula for life.

If you want to raise a Home Run Kid, teach him to be thankful. The key to overcoming selfishness is to lead him to a personal relationship with Christ. Becoming a Christian demands humility and repentance. One of the certain signs of a true believer is gratitude. How else can you respond to the amazing grace of God?

Those who would Raise Home Run Kids should also teach their kid to say, “Thank you” to every kindness shown to them.

In addition to saying, “Thank you” Home Run Kids should be taught to send “thank you” notes for every gift or kindness shown to them.

Home Run Kids are grateful kids, kids who have connected at home plate and have rounded first base!

Coach ‘em up parents!

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!