Doing What We Say
Are you teaching your children the character trait of faithfulness? I love the story about the town that was facing severe drought:
Are you teaching your children the character trait of faithfulness? I love the story about the town that was facing severe drought:
The fields were parched and brown from lack of rain, and the crops lay wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched the sky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came. The ministers of the local churches called for an hour of prayer on the town square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring on object of faith for inspiration. At high noon on the appointed Saturday, the townspeople turned out en masse, filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands … holy books, crosses, rosaries. When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. From the middle of the crowd one nine-year-old girl’s faith seemed to overshadow all the others—she had brought an umbrella.
Like that little girl, faithfulness isn’t just saying you believe something; it’s acting on that belief. It’s making plans based on God’s promises. As it says in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” Do you place your faith in your abilities, or God’s? Are you sure that God will do as He says? God is the only one who will never let us down. Will your faith move mountains or mole hills?
Ok, so how do I show my kids is a practical sense, the meaning of faithfulness? My friend, Dr. Doyle Butts, professor of Economics at John Brown University hit the nail on the head in regard to faithfulness.
“Luke 16: 10-12 suggests the importance of faithfulness, even in small things. A child’s allowance may be “small” in the mind of a parent but huge in the mind of a child. An allowance is in every sense of the word, a promise. Failure to make good a promise, no matter how small, makes it easier to renege on promises of greater significance. And just as important, failure to promptly make good on an allowance (promise) sends a signal to the child that it must be acceptable for promises in other areas of life.”
We must not only tell our children but follow through with our actions! I am sure you would agree that our children should be not only hearers of the word but doers as well.
As parents, when it comes to money, we must demonstrate our faith in God, not in the money itself. He is the great Provider; money is simply a tool, an area of life in which we need to be faithful to Him. Like most people in the story, many of us tend to serve (or be faithful to) treasured objects (money) instead of serving Him and believing His promises. We need to bring our umbrellas!
