Romans 12:9-21
Recently Patty and I took off some time to celebrate her birthday by going to the beautiful state of Hawaii. Of course we had a grand and beautiful time on that gorgeous Big Island. We swam a lot, snorkeled the corral coves, hiked many of the hills, and we shopped! One of the days we took a long hike that began about 1000 feet above sea level and proceeded down the lava flow areas all the way down to the ocean side on this beautiful but very warm Hawaiian day. We swam and snorkeled for a while and then proceeded to hike back up the 1000 feet of elevation to our car. Along the way we ran into a couple who were also sweating it out. As we talked a little we discovered they too were a Christian couple and from the East Coast. Of course we had a nice visit with him. We both have kids and we enjoyed hearing about them, but we are older than they so they began to ask us some advice. The wife had a fascinating question for us. What advice do you have for us about raising your children to be godly followers of Christ?
Me being a pastor and Bible teacher, I went into professor/preacher mode and quickly came up with a few good but sort of expected answers about how to raise kids. But my wife had the real answer that I thought was very profound. Again, this couple were Christ followers and they very much wanted their daughters to follow Christ and even marry Christian young men. But my wife’s answer to them was that in all that you do as parents, be AUTHENTIC as a follower of Christ. We cannot completely dictate to our children what day can and will do, but presenting to them true authentic faith as we follow in Christ in our lives is the greatest and most profound way to raise your children.
This coming Sunday we are going to focus our attention on Romans 12:9-21. One of the things that stands out to me is the word authenticity and living out our faith. In fact in verse nine of that chapter you will find a phrase that says we must live without hypocrisy. As you come Sunday morning please be prepared to be challenged with authenticity and all of the different aspects of what it means to live that kind of a life. Of course we know that every one of us has struggles and we fall short in so many ways even if we are serious about our walk with Christ. But the challenge of authenticity never goes away. I’m excited this Sunday to teach through this and be challenged myself by this great passage.
I will see you Sunday morning at 10:00 AM for worship and study together.
