It’s a joy to watch our kids grow and mature as we also wonder who they will become later in life. But we also have a responsibility in preparing them for their part to play in God’s larger story. We’re tasked with sharpening our arrows to effectively enter the next generation as beacons of goodness and light in a dark world.
Of course, we want to protect our kids from the dangers and distortions of this life as long as possible. They need a season of innocence to develop a solid sense of love and belonging and to know that a basic goodness is available to them.
All the same, we live in a world at war. Spiritual forces of evil are hell-bent on turning our hearts away from God. And we’ve been charged with actively resisting these forces and bringing more of God’s life and goodness into the world.
And this commission touches every area of our life, including our parenting.
As such, parenting is much more than simply making fond memories with our kids. Without taking anything away from this, we also have the responsibility to prepare them to keep fighting the good fight in the next generation.
In this way, our children are like arrows we send ahead of us to go places we cannot travel ourselves. We serve our generation and send them ahead to continue serving the next after we’re gone.
It’s important then that they’re well equipped for the battle ahead. And much of parenting is preparing them for such a task.
To be sure, this includes basic education. But it’s much more focused on giving them the eyes to see and training them how to engage in the spiritual realities of life.
Enjoy making many fond memories with your kids. And sharpen them as well to be arrows of righteousness for the next generation.
Photo by Ojo Toluwashe on Unsplash
