D5: The World

In Jesus' conversation with God in John 17, the third and lost priority He addresses is our need to 'love the world'.  Hmmm...kinda hard to explain to kids coming off the idea of being yoked and rooted in Jesus and with other believers.  In John 17:20-22 it says, " “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." We are called to show Jesus and His love to the world so the world will discover the plan, peace, and eternity He has in store for all who believe. So love the world? No. Be salt and light to the world? Yes.

Salt and light to a 10 and 12 year old is hard to explain and understand. The world flies in their face daily. They are faced with things I was never faced with and now they have a mom who has never experienced what they are experiencing or will experience in their lifetime. Great. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But God is a God of victory and not disaster. I want my kids to show Jesus to people daily and they can do that by living out the fruits of the spirit, by learning to seek Him as their foundation and dwelling and by learning and establishing spiritual disciplines in their lives. Blah, blah, blah, their faces glazed over as I  have said all that before and said it often.

What I have been faced with lately is an overwhelming number if conversations and comments about the teenage years. I am a year away from that ominous age thirteen. But in my naivety I believe that the teenage years don't all have to be bad. Do all teenagers hate their parents? Are all teenagers impossible to live with? If we are really to fly in the face of the world and be different than the world but live in the world, can't we challenge that paradigm?

So in light of the conversation about loving the world versus finding inheritance in the world, I challenged my kids. We have talked about teenagers and the societal expectation of hardship as a result of the age. I challenged them to show that they are different by being different teenagers. What if a whole generation of teenagers got along with their parents, talked with their parents, worked through issues using the love of Christ with their parents? I do believe that we can speak things into being, especially when they are circled in scripture and prayer. So, let's see what happens. I will continue to challenge my children to be different teenagers and I may end up with the proverbial egg on my face or I may end up with a glorious relationship that is only supplied by God. Either way, it will be a learning experience and I will be on my knees.

By His Grace