Creating Grateful Children

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  --1 Timothy 6:6-10


We've all seen it.

A child in the grocery store or at an amusement park or at a friends house either doesn't get what they want or doesn't want to leave and they are having a meltdown.  They cry and wail.  Their face turns red and they kick and scream.  Their words, "I DON'T WANNA GO!" or "IT'S NOT FAIR!" or "GIVE IT BACK!" reverberate throughout the world, at least that's the way it seems to a parent.

As a parent, you want to regain control.  Maybe your child is tired or just rebellious.  However, they have worked themselves up into a frenzy and either cannot listen to reason or don't want to.

I admit that my wife feels that way about me whenever I am asked to leave the electronic department or told to stop looking at vacation brochures.  I don't scream...much.  But I put on the sad dejected face of someone whose whole world just got stripped away from him.

As much as we hate to acknowledge it, we are more like our children than we want to admit.  We have a coveting problem.

Coveting is placing our joy and happiness on something other than God.  It is wanting something so bad that you will not be happy until you get it.  This is why God warns against it so sternly in the Ten Commandments:  You shall not covet your neighbor's house.  You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.--Exodus 20:17

Living in American society, one of the hard things to realize is that we live in a culture that thrives on covetousness.  Advertisements bombard us everywhere telling us that we won't be complete unless we have...well, you can fill in the blank with anything you think you can't live without.  And we do, as Christians, ALL. THE. TIME.

You might be thinking that I am writing this from a place of strength, but I am not.  I have struggled mightily with this very issue over the last few months.  Car problems, bills, sick family members and hard situations in ministry have made me want to retreat to those things that bring me comfort...and to my shame, it hasn't been Christ.

I do what you most likely do.  I turn on a YouTube video.  I listen to a football game.  I do pray, but only in a whining to God type of prayer that has to sound a lot like a toddler in a grocery store upset because he isn't getting exactly what he wants.

And I covet.  Oh do I covet.  I wish I had what so many others seem to have.  I say "seem" because I don't really walk in their shoes, I simply look from a distance and assume their life is perfect.  And mine is so not right now.

But God has given me a blessing in these trials, as it has forced me to slow down and truly look at my circumstances.  The Scriptures above say that if we have food and clothing, we should be content.  Even on my worst day, I have had so much more than that.  Most likely, you can say the same.

1 John 2:17 says:  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

So I am left with a dilemma that as a parent, I have to solve if I wish to raise grateful children.  I have to stop idolizing the world and its desires more than Jesus.  I have to continually evaluate my experience in the light of His Truth and be thankful for my daily provision (Mat. 6:11).

Do I really believe that Jesus is more than enough?  Do I act as if He is?  Am I thankful for all the blessings that He has given me?  Do I run to Him in my times of need?  Do I seek after Him first before anything or anyone else?  Do I desire to spend time with Him above all the things of this world that tend to distract me from His presence?

Until I am fully satisfied in Christ, and Him alone, how can I as a parent expect my children to be content with the same?

Jesus, You are my strength, life and joy.  I forget that at times of trials and even in times of blessings.  Forgive me for that.  Help me to find in You the contentment that this world knows nothing of and may that joy permeate my life so that my children will know what a great Savior You are.  Help me be content amidst my circumstances, knowing You have provided for me so much more than mere physical needs.  And help me as a father, be grateful for everything, both good and hard times, so that I may glorify You and be an example to my children that they may be grateful for You too.  In Jesus name...Amen.