Teacher and Lover of the Family

David Blankenhorn, in his book, Fatherless America, it says, “Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. It is the leading cause of declining child well-being in our society. It is the engine that is driving our most urgent social problems from crime, to adolescent pregnancy, to the sexual abuse of children, and to domestic violence against women. Yet, despite its scale and it’s social consequences, fatherlessness is a problem that is frequently ignored.”

And so, I had the opportunity to write this big paper I told you about. I had to write a thesis and I was pretty tired, and I figured, you know what? Write on something that you’re motivated. You have a big need.

And I wrote it on the role and responsibility of the father in transmitting the values in the family. And you remember there were four key roles that the Bible evidences, backed up by the psychological and sociological research.

And that us as dads, we need to be the leader in our home. We need to be the priest in our home. And now we’re going to learn, we need to be the teacher and the lover.

Let’s just go over these four roles and I’ll just highlight them quickly and then we’ll look at snapshots number three and number four.

One of the primary roles is, he’s a leader. We said, a definition of a leader: he makes things happen. That leaders ask pivotal questions like, where are we now as a family? Where do we need to go? And how are we going to get there?

We learned that the focus of leaders is objectives. Where are you going to land? The how-to was: modeling, taking initiative, setting some direction, and ongoing evaluation.

And we said, the stewardship as a man is, we are morally responsible for our homes.

Second thing we learned is that a father’s not only a leader, He’s a priest. A dad who’s a priest says, over and over throughout the stages of his kids’ lives, “Do my kids know God? Do they have an accurate view of God? Does our home honor God? Are they, and am I, growing in holiness?”

We said that the focus of the priest is worship. And we said some how-tos. First, we have to model it, dads. We need to be authentic worshippers, privately and devotionally. And then we need to be the ones to say to the family, “Hey! Let’s get up Sunday morning, or Saturday night. We’re going to worship because it matters.”

And then we initiate family worship. You know, at least once or twice a week.

And then you teach your kids how to worship on their own. The stewardship here, men, is we’re not only leaders but as priests, we’re the stewards of the spiritual climate of our home. That’s not your wife’s job.

Well, where do we go from here? Snapshot three and snapshot four. Snapshot three, he’s a teacher. Definition: he imparts wisdom and builds character. That’s what a teacher does.

The Hebrew word for “wisdom” really has more of the idea of skill. The book of Proverbs defines what it is.

Wisdom is understanding how life is created, life and relationships, and things to work. Then you know it and then after you know it, then you understand the “why” behind it. And then you have discernment about when and how to put it into practice, and then you teach your children to live life according to God’s pattern so that it protects them and brings His “shalom,” His blessing and glory to Him.

That’s what you want to transmit. The wisdom of God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

But beyond that, you don’t want just them to know what’s right. Or to learn a few skills. You want them to have character.

And so, a teacher’s job is to build values, and principles, and convictions, and loyalty, and integrity, so that when they hit transitional years, they make decisions on their own in their peer group to say, “I’m not going that direction. I’m going this direction. Not because of my parents but because of what God has done in my life.”

See, you want to impart wisdom, and you want to build character. The classic New Testament passage: Ephesians 6:4. And notice, who’s it addressed to? Mothers? No. Parents? No. “Fathers, don’t exasperate your children” is the idea. Or don’t frustrate your children. Or don’t cause them to get angry. That’s the negative side of this command.

“But rather, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Notice there’s a negative and a positive command.

The negative is, don’t frustrate them. When we’re harsh, perfectionistic, or passive, as men, we stir up anger in our kids. But he says, don’t do that but instead, what? Hey. Bring them up. It’s a very broad word.

To bring up, the word was used in the classical Greek to mean nourishment, even physical nourishment, mental nourishment. It had this broad, broad view of the total development or nurture of a child.

And so, we’re to bring up, the educational environment. We’re to bring them up with two things in mind. The how-to, with the discipline and admonition.

The idea is, whatever it takes for your kids to learn, or be educated or to be trained in the things of God, that’s what you do. But the unique aspect of this word “discipline” or “training” has to do with, you do it by actions.

The instruction or another translation says “admonition,” the discipline and instruction, or discipline and admonition of the Lord, the idea there is you do it with words. And I think the word order is important.

When your kids are first learning, can they understand what you’re saying? How do you teach your kids when they’re real early, when they’re real small? When they do what’s right, they get reward. And when they do what’s wrong, they get consequences. It’s done lovingly and kindly.

The goal is, early on, by way of your actions, they know what’s right, they know what’s wrong, they know what’s expected, they know that they’re loved.

And then the admonition is the words, the verbal words, to keep them on course. And so, dads, our job is to bring up our kids in a sphere of Christlikeness, in the Lord, whereby our actions and by our words we educate, imparting wisdom and building character.

Well, what’s the focus, then? The focus is wisdom and there are some questions to get you there.

As a teacher, what are the kind of questions you need to ask to be effective? The first one is ask yourself: what does your kid need to know, do, and be? Okay? What’s the knowledge that they need, what are the skills, the doing, and what do they need to be or become?

If you want a good way to put this together, this has been very helpful to me. Think about, I need to develop my child’s head, I need to develop my child’s hands, and I need to develop my child’s heart. You get it?

The second question, then, is how do they best learn? See, the greatest danger is, you’ll have your first kid and they’ll be fairly compliant and whatever you do with them, you think that’s the way you ought to do it.

I’ve got news for you. They’re all different, aren’t they? I have four. They learn completely differently.

And so, as a teacher, you better find out how your kids learn, what kind of personalities they have, and what’s the most effective way to communicate?

The third question you need to ask is, when and how will you teach them in this season of their life? Let me give you a quick example. Let me run through this and maybe it’ll be helpful for some of you, maybe like me, didn’t grow up in a Christian home and I didn’t read the Bible until I was eighteen.

Each season is different. When my kids were small, see, what I’m talking about is, you have to have a structure and a game plan to educate them.

And so, when my kids were small, it was bedtime. Each bedtime, I put my kids to bed if I was home. Now, I’d fight over this now and then with Theresa, because she’d always want to get in on it. So, I said, “You get to be with them a lot more than me.”

And so, I read through storybooks. Storybooks of the Bible. And I’d get them real close to me, and then we’d shut the door and pile up the pillows, and we made it fun. It was outrageous and it was crazy.

But I wanted them to hear the content of God’s Word associated with their dad, my arm around them, cuddling up together, and I did that in the early years.

In the middle years, then, you shift. And the time, instead of bedtime, was around meals because by the middle years, even ten, eleven, twelve, early preteens and teens, I want my kids to meet with God on their own, before they go to bed.

And so, around meals, once or twice a week, read the Bible a little bit, talk a little bit. I tried a million different ways. None of them lasted more than three weeks to three months and then it didn’t work.

It’s a lot like business isn’t it? You know, whatever’s working now, three months from now, it’s not working. Why should it be any different with your family? Because they’re growing, they’re changing, the paradigm’s got to shift. And so, it was mealtime. That was the formal, instructional time.

And then as they’ve gotten older, you know, nineteen, twenty, I’ll give them a book. “I need a really good book. Give me a really good book. I mean, something to fire me up.”

You go out and you goof around and you talk about it. And around the table, a lot of our family times now, is, I just say, “Honey, what are you reading right now?” And she’ll share. Eric, how about you? Ryan, what’s going on with you?”

And so, each season, you need to figure out: how am I going to communicate formally and informally the truth of God’s Word in a way were it gets into their heart and they apply it to their life?

And so, the focus is wisdom. And ask yourself. Some of you are, I hope you’re thinking, I need some curriculum. I mean, I need some curriculum. Where would I go? What should I teach them?

Are you ready for this? There’s a section of the Bible called the wisdom literature. If you want to train your kids’ hands, skills in life: book of Proverbs. Take your kids through the book of Proverbs. It starts out, “Son, I want to teach you how to walk with God.” It’s all the skills about life. It starts – what? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

And then chapter after chapter after chapter, it talks about basic things like work, your tongue, sex, money, relationships, loans. It teaches your kids the skills of life.

But you don’t just want to do their hands. Then move as they get into preteen, actually teenage years to Ecclesiastes. Because you’ll want them to know when they’re finding their identity that it can’t be found in money, it can’t be found in education, it can’t be found in fame, it can’t be found in popularity.

Let them know there was someone that could do anything. The wisest, richest, most powerful man in the world named Solomon and he said, “When it’s all been said, when it’s all been done, if you don’t walk with God, everything’s vanity.” And you give them a Biblical worldview.

And then finally, you want to develop their heart. So the wisdom literature, get in the psalms. And you read and pray psalms out loud. You got a great curriculum there.

Because the focus of a teacher is to transmit wisdom. You do it how? One, by modeling, having a Word-centered life yourself.

Two, by those formal times of instruction, like we talked about. And then by informal times.

And by the way, I want to just for a second, think outside the box. Now, all of us would say, when your kids graduate from high school, you want them to be able to read, write, think, and be able to articulate ideas, right? And communicate verbally. We all want that.

And I fell into the trap of thinking that if the public schools are not doing a good job of that, and I know there’s, I mean, I’m a schoolteacher. My parents were schoolteachers. Been involved in public schools all my life.

But, you know, there’s been a slide. There are a lot of great teachers out there but there’s been a slide.

You know, I hope that they’ll help me but I’m not going to stand before God and say the name of such and such high school, how come they didn’t do a better job with my son. I realized that’s my job.

Now, if I get a lot of help and it gets done at the school. Great. If not, then I better do it.

Let’s think outside the box, guys! What’s the goal? The goal isn’t, how can we get out of something. The goal is what we can put into our kids that years and years and years we’ll say, “Whoa! Boy am I glad I did that!”

And so you do it informally, you do it formally. And you do it at times where, not just by the way of those, but you do it at times where they have a failure. That’s called a teachable moment.

They break up. That’s called a teachable moment. I’ve had a time where I came back and one son had lovingly propelled another son into the wall in a way that did damage to the wall. That was a teachable moment.

We’re educators. We’re teachers. And so the stewardship as teachers, God’s calling, is to transfer godly wisdom to the next generation.

Now, this next little section is a Chip Ingramism. It is not from God. It is a personal conviction, but I felt prompted to say it. Okay?

So you ready? I made a decision early on, this was when, I grew up in the era, my kids were coming up when Nintendo just came out. I made a, here’s the decision I made. I would not have video games in my house. None of my kids would have a TV in their room. And that during school nights, we won’t watch TV.

So, I have four children. They are, all four, voracious readers. Second, all four are musicians. Third, all four are initiators. And fourth, all four are communicators.

You know why? They got bored. They got bored. You know, in my house, you get your homework done, it’s eight o’clock, it’s eight fifteen. I mean, what do you do?

You’re not watching anything, you’re not playing any video games. You’re not going to a-muse yourself to death. “A” meaning “non.” “Muse” as in “think.”

See, we’ve got a world that is a-musing themselves to death – not thinking. So, you know, you get so bored… hey, you pick up the guitar. Go over, play the piano. Go work out. You ready? Read a book.

And amazing things happen. They learn to take initiative. They learn to think. They learn to be creative. Just a little thought. I’ll just leave that one with you. I’ll pass you right on. Are you ready?

Okay, dads, God’s got a great plan for your family. It starts with being a leader. Next is a priest. Third is the teacher or educator. And fourth, this is special. We’re to be a lover.

Definition of a lover is he gives people what they need most. Now, primarily, as you go through the Scriptures you find that that’s what God does. He’s an unconditional lover of our soul.

He gives us what we need most at great sacrifice. And so, what is it? It’s provision and protection. When you really think about love, that’s what you get. You get provision and you get protection.

You get material provision from your dad, spiritual provision from your dad, emotional provision from your dad, and relational provision from your dad.

See, love says, whatever they really need. If it’s a tender hug or being grounded. Done out of the same concern and motive, you give it to them. You care for them. You sacrificially, literally, give your life.

Interesting passage. Read with me Malachi 4, the very last two verses of the Old Testament. It says, “Behold, I’m going to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord,” speaking of judgment.

“And he will restore the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” Jesus told us that John the Baptist was the Elijah spoken of here. That he came to prepare the way of the Lord.

And one of the evidences is when people are living under kingdom rule, one of the primary evidences is when a culture, and when a home, are living the way God wants them to, you know what it is? It’s when there is an intimate, heart connection and concern from the father to the children and from the children back to the father.

The focus of a man is relationships. It’s hard to do that when you didn’t get it. But it can be learned. It can be learned. You just take little baby steps. It can be learned. It doesn’t mean it has to come natural.
In Jesus’ day, kids didn’t matter. They were in the way. Even among His followers, do you remember? When the kids ran up to Him? What did the disciples say? “Get them out of here. They’re just kids. Kids don’t matter.”

What did Jesus say? “Stop. Bring one of the children to Me.” And He lifted up the little child and then He said, “Such is the kingdom of God.”

See, children don’t bring anything to the party. They don’t earn any money. They are need-receptors. That’s what they are. You got something? They need it. You got time? They need it. You got money? They need it. You got an emotional tank? They need it.

And the more secular a culture, and the more hardened we become, children become less and less important and we’re living in that day. We’re living in the day where people don’t want to have kids. You know why? It cramps their lifestyle. Man, you can do a lot more on two salaries, without any kids in the way. We live in a day where people say, “You know what? I don’t want to raise my kids. I’ll stick them somewhere else and let someone else raise them.”

Kids don’t matter in our day. We have the highest poverty levels among our children in the history of our nation at a time when we have more affluence than ever before.

And the spiritual and emotional poverty that our kids have is way beyond the financial. And so, what’s God say? God says, the definition is, we give people, our kids, what they need most because we ask the questions that really count.

And the questions that a lover of his home ask, as a dad is, “How are my kids really doing?” Not just, how they appear. Not, they got As or Bs on their report card. Not, they’re doing so much on the team. But how are my kids really doing?

Not just the outward stuff but he’s looking for the inward stuff. Looks for the mood changes. Looks for the emotional withdrawal. Looks for the kind of kids they’re starting to run with. Looks at what they’re motivated by.

Second question a loving dad does is, “Do they sense my approval and acceptance?” Do your kids have a sense that you, dad, are for them? You are their blesser. You care about them.

Third question a good, loving dad asks, “Are we connecting at a deep level?” See, as your kids go through different stages, what do they do? See, they’ve not lived as long as you. This is not real hard to figure out. And when they hit things that they don’t understand, what they do is, they draw back from you.

But what I found was, when I began to probe and connect with them, sometimes they didn’t want it. And you know the tragedy in our day among all parents, believers or not? Is when you start probing because you’re concerned, and they give you a little guff or they withdraw.

We have parents that are saying, “Oh, it’s a fad. They’ll get through it. I’m concerned about the kind of kids they’re running around with. I’m concerned about the attitude. It just must be the teenage years.”

No. It must be your kids are going down the tube and someone needs to be courageous, and man enough to step up and say, “We’re not going there. Those relationships are out of bounds for a while. And you know something? I don’t know what we need to do but you and I are going to have breakfast, once a week, and I’ll sit quietly and listen, or we’ll stare at each other. But guess what – I’m your dad, I love you, and we’re going to be connected whether you like it or not.”

And they’ll hate your guts for it for a while and then they’ll love you.

The focus of a man is relationships. And by the way, I know what I just said. It’s hard to do that when you didn’t get it. But it can be learned. It can be learned. You just take little baby steps. It can be learned. It doesn’t mean it has to come natural.

How do you pull this off? Look at number one. Am I beating a dead horse here, or what? Have you noticed that to be a leader, to be a priest, to be an educator, and to be a lover of your home, it all begins with doing it. Model it. Model a love for God. Model a love for your mate. By the way, even if your mate doesn’t live in the house anymore.

Be very careful what comes out of your mouth, and the attitude you have, if you’re divorced. Because telling bad things about your mate to your kids – you know, it’s poison.

The second there’s no substitute for is time. You know, you can read that quality stuff until it’s coming out your ears. I’ll tell you what your kids want is you. And when you’re there, you need to really be there.

Third, is providing tender love unconditionally. Jot down Psalm 103:13, will you? When God wants us to understand how He’s like, He reaches out of Psalm 103 and He speaks and He says, “For just as a human father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us. He’s mindful that we’re dust.”

He says when a human father is functioning in the right way, he’s tender, he’s caring, he’s approachable.

Let me give you three ways, in the margin, to be tender with your kids. Number one, with words. Say, “I love you,” will you? I mean, just get it out.

Over the years, we started this and it’s not like some code and oh, did we forget to say it? But, when I get off the phone when I’m talking with any of my kids, end the conversation, “I love you Eric.” “I love you Jason.” “I love you Annie.” “I love you Ryan.” “I love you too, Dad.” They need to hear that. I’ll tell you what. I need to hear it.

But it’s not just words. Touch them, okay? Touch them. Put your hands on their shoulder. Give them a hug. Come up from behind them. Dads, when they’re little, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, and then wrestle some more.

You know why? Because it’s a safe way. They want to be connected to something strong, and masculine, and powerful. And wrestling is a great way to do it. And, men, as your daughters hit those preteens and then teenage years, don’t back away.

They need to know what it looks like to be non-sexually touched and loved. And put your arm around them and you hug them because your daughter will pick a safe, good man if she learns that there are safe, good men.

And if you get a little nervous because she develops in front of your eyes and it makes you a little uncomfortable and you remove yourself from her, she’ll go find some affection somewhere and you won’t be a happy camper because of where she’ll look. You really won’t. We’ve got to touch our kids. We’ve got to love our kids.

Third, is special moments. Special moments. Make birthdays big. That’s one day, you know, it’s like, when they were born. Make it big.

Second, you know the special times like games, or if they get an award, or at graduations. Man, celebrate. Really celebrate that. I don’t mean buy them a car and stuff. I mean, just celebrate.

When they hurt. Boy, that’s when they need tender, unconditional love. When they hurt. When they go through their first breakup, I mean, they’re fifteen and they’re sure they’re as in love as you could ever be in love.

And three months later, I mean, they’re depressed. They’ve got feelings going on inside. They don’t need a lecture, “Well, I told you not to get that involved with a kid like that anyway and he was no good from the…”

Just sit across the bed and listen. And hurt with them.

When they have a big decision, be tender. Let them make some big decisions. Be tender with them. Listen a little more than give all the advice. What you’ll find, if you do that, they’ll come back and start asking for advice, which really works better.

And then, finally, is when they fail. There’s probably a time, no greater or more important to be unconditional and tender.

They know as they get older: “This was right. And I did this.” They need to hear, “I’m not real happy with the decision, but you can’t do anything. I love you. We’ll work through this. I’m for you. I accept you. That behavior. There’s going to be a price. I’ll work with you. You’ll have to own that. But, man, I love you. I’m for you.”

Second thing along these lines is, you’ve got to provide tough love when necessary. If Psalm 103:13 you wrote down, above write here, Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 11 is the summary, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful. Yet, those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Your kids are always asking two questions. This is my parenting for fathers and mothers in a nutshell. Your kids are always asking two questions. “Do you love me? And can I have my own way?”

The answer to number one is yes, yes, yes. The answer to number two is no. And so, what tough love is, is, “I love you so much that there are boundaries, that inside our home, these attitudes and these behaviors won’t be tolerated. Now, I’m not going to go berserk, I’m not going to act like a fool, I’m not going to let it go and then jump all over you, I’m going to very calmly, under control say, ‘That doesn’t happen here. And when you, that does, then the car doesn’t get used. And when that does, this happens. When that does, this happens. And you know what? You can make this as hard on yourself as you’d like. I don’t budge.’”

I had one son, for three and a half or four years made me nuts. I mean, when he was at the supper table, when he was in the house, as far as I know, he didn’t go outside the big moral boundaries, but he had a rebellious attitude and he made our family miserable. Particularly me.

And it got to the point, I mean, it got to the point, got to the point, got to the point where, “Son,” I mean, you don’t bluff this kid. We sat down and I said, “Son, I love you. And there’s nothing you can ever do that’ll change my love. And you know what? All that jazz you’re talking about? Your mom and I got a track record with you. But I’m going to tell you something right now. Here are the boundaries. Here’s the box. You live inside of that.

“There are not many rules at all around here. But the right attitude and the right behavior or it’s probably time now, if you can’t do that, that you find somewhere else to live.” And I don’t suggest you ever go there unless you get led by God to go there and you know there’s no other alternative.

And he went into his room and hibernated for about three and a half days, I guess to think it over. And then he walked out one day, I still remember brushing him in a hall and his countenance was changed and the next month he lived like the kid I had four years earlier.

Now, he was a real manipulator so I, I wasn’t too excited. I thought, it’s an act. You know, he’s going to get me later. Alright?

But, so after a month, I’m feeling like, this might be actually real. And I said, “Jason, do you mind? What happened?” He said, “What do you mean?”

“Son, I’ve gone through four years of hell, what do you mean, what do you mean? I mean, we’re like this all the time. What do you mean?” He said, “Oh, I just wanted to know where the boundaries were.” I think I hit him.

He said, “Dad, you know, I’ve grown up, I’ve heard about God all my life, I’ve seen what’s happened in the church, and I know it’s really true. I know you and mom really, really love me. But, you know, just part of me, I wanted to go off, do my own thing. I wanted to do a bunch of stuff that was wrong. I knew it was wrong. You wouldn’t let me do it. And it made me really mad. And I stuffed it all down inside and so I kept pushing, pushing, pushing. See how far you’d go, and I found out.”

He said, “I know it’s not worth it.” He said, “I’m rebelling against God and rebelling against you, I need to just live my life the way I’m supposed to. I had a good talk with God about it.”

I mean, it would have been very unbiblical but I just wanted to take, you know, you know, right here!

You know, I changed more in that four years than any other time in my life. I needed God more. And that same son, God’s great sense of humor, he’s in Nashville writing music and traveling all over the country preaching the gospel through song.

God’s got an amazing sense of humor and you know what he says? “Dad, thank you. Thanks for not letting me have my own way.”

Moms, dads, give your kids what they need, not what they want. And as my old prof, Howard Hendricks – it changed my life, in my parenting – you’ve got to know Prof Hendricks. He’s something else.

“[Sniff], listen to me! The question you need to ask [sniff] is do you want your kids to love you next week or do you want your kids to love you ten years from now?”

And see, there’s a lot of us that don’t step up and provide boundaries because our kids turn us off and they say, “I don’t love you anymore. And everyone else gets to do it.” And they sulk. And so, we give in.

And our kids are great students of us. We say, “Oh, you’re grounded.” And they turn to their friend, they say, “Oh, they said a week. It won’t last more than two days.”

And they’re right. And your kids ten years from now will love you, if you, when you say a week, it’s a week. When you set the boundaries, you keep them. Under control, lovingly, and God will change them.

The stewardship in the home, really we’re talking about, dad, is the issues of the heart. The leader guards the moral responsibility for the family. The priest guards the spiritual climate.

The teacher says, “I’m going to impart wisdom and build character.” And the lover says, “The issues of the heart in my family, beginning with me, have got to be done God’s way.”

I have four specific steps I’d like you to take because I think many of you, if you’re like me, I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, I didn’t read the Bible until I was eighteen, a lot of this is foreign.

Application. Four points. How to become the dad your kids need you to be. Number one, It must begin with your thinking, so you start to think the way God thinks about being a father instead of how you were raised.

Second, it only becomes real with support. Trying to do this on your own, you’ll fail. Find a group of men. Do something as couples – however. But find some people who can covenant with you.

And it doesn’t have to be official. And you don’t have to go through the church office. Find three or four guys and say, hey, you want to do this? Yeah? You’re struggling? Yeah. Okay. Good. You qualify.

Three, it requires supernatural grace. You know that modeling, modeling, modeling, modeling? If you are not a Christian, you’re here and you hear this stuff. If you’ve never asked Jesus to forgive you, come into your life, cleanse you, and empower you by His Spirit, do it today.

Do it because you need it, but do it because your kids need it. You can’t do what I’ve talked about here apart from the supernatural grace of God.

And if you’re a man here and honestly before God only you know – Christ is not your Lord. I mean, He’s not really. I mean, you know the story. You’re pretty sure, you know, you’re going to go to heaven. He’s your Savior. You’re in.

And somehow you’ve got it in your mind, like, Well, like, later when I get done with this or this or this I’ll kind of get serious about my faith. Get serious now. And say, “God…,” because the resources are not available to carnal Christians.

You’re going to have to get right with God, because you’ve got to live this out. Because what, you can make a zillion mistakes. Love covers a multitude of sins. But if you will model this, your kids, by and large, will catch it.

And then, number four, it’s sustained by pondering the future. And this may sound a little bizarre but I do this, I mean, I literally do this a lot. I picture myself in my late seventies, early eighties. I do.

And I lean back in my easy chair and it’s my birthday and I picture who’s there. And I picture what’ll really be important then. And I just, I have a hard time getting really excited thinking, Wow, everyone will be impressed with how much money I have. How big my house is. What kind of car I drive. How many people ever reported to me.

And then I realize, late seventies, early eighties, the things that’ll matter are: will any of my kids come to my birthday party? Will they even want to be there? Will their grandkids be there?

Will I be able to look back and say the real legacy of my life was I gave a higher focus and a higher intentionality to raising kids who walked with God. The ups and downs, the struggles, the failures. I did that first, even before my work.

And I’ve got this sneaking suspicion as I talk with older men. I’ve got this sneaking suspicion that I’ll end up a very, very blessed man, if I do what I’m talking about. Because it’s hard. It’s tough to balance. It takes unbelievable courage.

You’re going to, you’re going to run into a lot of barriers and conflict. But you’re, by the grace of God, if Jesus doesn’t come back, the way this life expectancy that you’re going to, you’re going to live to your late seventies. You’re going to live to your early eighties. Maybe beyond. And what are you going to have? You’re going to have whatever you’re investing your life in now.

So, where are you? What of those four steps do you just need to say, God… and it’s never too late. You qualify to be transformed by God.