Photo Courtesy of Sherwood Pictures Ministry, Inc. from "Courageous" the Movie
My heart was simply thrilled when I saw “Courageous,” the new blockbuster Christian feature film that chronicles the lives of five men and their challenge to be courageous. Though this movie centers on men, the women and children in their lives learn just what courageous should look like by witnessing their husbands and fathers. Watching “Courageous” made me think of the seven qualities of a strong believer in 2 Peter 1 and how modeling may be our strongest weapon in helping our children achieve for themselves virtue, the first quality in the list.
The definition of virtue in 2 Peter 1:5 is “courage, fortitude, resolution” and many people, including youths, lack this. Though some are born with virtue, others aren’t, so this is something we must teach or cultivate in our children so they will stand firm on God’s word. They need virtue in our day where everything seems relative, children are largely indifferent, and social media helps develop and destroy trends and friends with lightening speed.
- States get to decide the definition of marriage though God defined it between a man and a woman.
- Without incentives, like cash, some young people would barely excel.
- Tweets and pages tell us what we should like and who we should like.
Society makes it hard for us to instill virtue in our children. Our children, bombarded with sound bites and social media, may lean toward cultural norms and we may too. We might resign to the culture because we believe it stronger than any lessons we could teach and we forget that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We get tired of teaching our children the SAME lessons; at least I know I do. But children learn through repetition and respond to patterns of consistency. They like routines and come to expect certain behavior—be it our pet sayings, our follow-through on discipline or our spouting a lot of empty threats.
My three year old, Nathaniel, is my routine router. “Say ‘honey.’ Say ‘honey,’ mom,” he insists if I fail to call him such. He also reminds me that I’m supposed to give spankings when a known violation has occurred. Frankly, I like to change up my language a bit sometimes and I get tired of redirecting with words and spankings. I just don’t FEEL like teaching and disciplining. Then I remember Scripture and I route my routines back in place so I can courageously claim God’s promises:
“And let us be not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9—KJV, emphasis mine).
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“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58—KJV, emphasis mine). |
With our steadiness in teaching our children, we model virtue. Living virtuously is not easy, let alone trying to teach someone else. I believe that’s why Peter said “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue…” He knew we would have to work hard to achieve virtue and all the other characteristics of a strong Christian. And when we are diligent, consistent with our modeling and direct teaching, we reap great rewards:
“The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor” (Proverbs 12:24—ESV).
“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4—ESV).
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5—ESV).
When we are diligent, we will lead our children; our minds, wills and emotions will be satisfied; and we will reap a great harvest, in this case seeing our children walk in virtue. So go ahead and challenge yourselves and your children to not be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Not being wishy washy takes knowing what we are supposed to take a stand on. Here are some starters for us and our children:
Know who God is. When we know who He is we know there is not another who is comparable to Jesus. This will keep us standing firm on our belief in Him so we can teach our children the same.
Know who we are. God created us for a specific purpose (Ephesians 1:4, 2:10). It's up to us to diligently seek Him to find out our purpose and to teach our children to work to discover theirs.
Know that God created us to have resolve 1) about who He is; 2) about why He has chosen us; and 3) to stand firm on His Word. Throughout the Bible He says phrases like “Know that I am God,” “I chose you,” and “believe” in God and His word (Psalm 46:10; John 15:16; John 14:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).
I believe God will show you what is the best way for you to teach your children to embrace walking in virtue, but I have a few suggestions:
- Have Bible studies with your children on characters that embodied virtue. Of course the Bible is chockfull of examples, though David and the prophetess Anna are two of my favorites. Use a topical dictionary to find who you want.
- Be a person of your word. Let your yes be yes and no be no so your children see how not to over-commit, under-commit or be indifferent. Modeling is powerful and a key component as parents.
- Encourage your children to hang with people who have strong resolve about godly things. I’ve said this before but I don’t ever think I could say it too much. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). We want our children to be sharpened to do good.
Remember, we all stand for something. I pray that we all choose to stand on God’s word by teaching our children to embrace virtue, yet another way to put the Kingdom first.
Rhonda J. Smith is a former college speech instructor & communications coordinator turned full-time homemaker & journalist. The writing of this committed wife and mother who earned her Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master’s degree in communication from Wayne State University, Detroit, has been featured in The Detroit News, Newsday (New York), Chicago Tribune, Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, MI),
Guideposts, and Charisma Magazine.
Rhonda frequently speaks at ministry functions, writes and edits newsletters for Christian ministries, and teaches public speaking workshops. Three times a week, she encourages women to lean on God's strength instead of their own through her blog, Musings of a (Recovering) Strong Black Woman. She, her husband and three sons attend Evangel Ministries in Detroit, where they live.
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rhonda@eewmagazine.com
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