Okay...
... I'll admit it - I love to read blogs! Probably because it allows me to "catch up" with friends, family and current events while doing one or two other things...more another time on how I am a 'recovering multitasker'! Some of my favorite blogs to read are those of other children's ministers/directors - below is a post from Courtney Hofmann from The Village Church in Highland Village, TX - it really rang true to me.
Jul 22
Identity
Courtney Hofmann
Let’s face it… life in the suburbs is a challenge. Wealth. Materialism. Big homes. Competition is surely a temptation, and whether we are aware of it or not, we are probably more caught up in it than we realize.
My husband and I just bought our first home. This should be an exciting time, but instead it has provoked much anxiety within me. The Lord has used this purchase to reveal a lot of materialism and idolatry in my heart. I am learning that I seek control and perfection. I have been trying to find my identity and worth in this house rather than in the Lord. This, of course, has left me frustrated, unsatisfied and anxious.
Fortunately, the Lord is jealous for His namesake and has refused to let me be satisfied in anything but Him. As hard as I have tried to let paint colors, fun furniture, and a new house define me, they have ultimately failed me. They were not created to fulfill me.
Obviously, your children are not in a place to be buying their first home. Regardless, in a culture like ours, they will be tempted to find their worth and their value in stuff. Nice clothes. Popularity. Video games. Hannah Montana CD’s. Sports. Good grades. Your children can try and try to find their identity in these things, but they will undoubtedly end up frustrated and unfulfilled as this stuff fails them.
As parents, you have the opportunity to teach your children to find their worth in Christ alone. You can encourage them that though styles will change, fads will fade, and stuff will break, He alone is unchanging and will always be the same. He is our only good, and He alone is our ultimate joy and hope. Satisfaction cannot be found in created things, but rather in the One who created them.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” Your children are teachable; their hearts are moldable. They will learn where to find their identity by watching you and following your example. If wealth, fame or other created objects define you, your children will likely seek their worth in similar things. But if you hold your possessions loosely, if you recognize that they are the Lord’s and have been given to you for His glory and not yours, if your treasure is found in His Kingdom rather than on earth, then your children will see that.
Our prayer is that they would follow in your footsteps as you imitate Christ. Likewise, we are praying that you, as parents, would have hearts that are steadfast in Him, pursuing His Kingdom and righteousness and that you would set forth a Christ-like example for your children.
In a materialistic society that screams at us from all directions that we are what we own, I encourage you to teach your children something different: The Lord is enough and is more satisfying than His stuff will ever be.
Jul 22
Identity
Courtney Hofmann
Let’s face it… life in the suburbs is a challenge. Wealth. Materialism. Big homes. Competition is surely a temptation, and whether we are aware of it or not, we are probably more caught up in it than we realize.
My husband and I just bought our first home. This should be an exciting time, but instead it has provoked much anxiety within me. The Lord has used this purchase to reveal a lot of materialism and idolatry in my heart. I am learning that I seek control and perfection. I have been trying to find my identity and worth in this house rather than in the Lord. This, of course, has left me frustrated, unsatisfied and anxious.
Fortunately, the Lord is jealous for His namesake and has refused to let me be satisfied in anything but Him. As hard as I have tried to let paint colors, fun furniture, and a new house define me, they have ultimately failed me. They were not created to fulfill me.
Obviously, your children are not in a place to be buying their first home. Regardless, in a culture like ours, they will be tempted to find their worth and their value in stuff. Nice clothes. Popularity. Video games. Hannah Montana CD’s. Sports. Good grades. Your children can try and try to find their identity in these things, but they will undoubtedly end up frustrated and unfulfilled as this stuff fails them.
As parents, you have the opportunity to teach your children to find their worth in Christ alone. You can encourage them that though styles will change, fads will fade, and stuff will break, He alone is unchanging and will always be the same. He is our only good, and He alone is our ultimate joy and hope. Satisfaction cannot be found in created things, but rather in the One who created them.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” Your children are teachable; their hearts are moldable. They will learn where to find their identity by watching you and following your example. If wealth, fame or other created objects define you, your children will likely seek their worth in similar things. But if you hold your possessions loosely, if you recognize that they are the Lord’s and have been given to you for His glory and not yours, if your treasure is found in His Kingdom rather than on earth, then your children will see that.
Our prayer is that they would follow in your footsteps as you imitate Christ. Likewise, we are praying that you, as parents, would have hearts that are steadfast in Him, pursuing His Kingdom and righteousness and that you would set forth a Christ-like example for your children.
In a materialistic society that screams at us from all directions that we are what we own, I encourage you to teach your children something different: The Lord is enough and is more satisfying than His stuff will ever be.
