2 Peter 1:1-8

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:  Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;

and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control;

and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Let me just come right out and say it: There is a part of me that thinks that it is a generational thing that my parents made sure we began and ended every day with the word of God; that we prayed together at home daily; that we sang hymns just for fun sitting out under the stars on a warm summer night.  “Times are different,” I have thought.  “My generation is not so intense or extreme about religion.  I don’t want my kids to feel religion has been forced on them.  And singing hymns in the back yard is just plain hokey.”   So it has always been tempting to do LESS than my parents did for me when it comes to teaching my kids God’s Word, praying with them, singing hymns with them, and guiding them in the faith in our home.

Let me just come right out and say one more thing:  I am dead wrong to think like that.  Opponents of the faith have not gotten friendlier to Christians since I was a kid.  The moral and spiritual state of the world has not improved since I was a kid.  The devil has not taken his foot off the accelerator of ungodliness in our culture since I was a kid.  His convincing lies and attacks on God’s word have not been fading away since I was a kid.  Just the opposite.  And yet that Old Liar gets me to think it is fine- even good- for me to do LESS to build up the faith of my kids than what my parents did for me.  Has he gotten to you too?

Come with me to the cross of Jesus and to the waters of our baptism.  There is cleansing and forgiveness there for such foolish thinking and behavior.  And there is power there to see things clearly.  There is power there, by Jesus’ grace and in his strength, to strive to do MORE as Peter urges us, not less, for the spiritual welfare of our kids…and for our own faith.  For there is nothing MORE important for us and our kids than growing in our faith in Jesus and living that faith for his glory until he brings us to eternal glory with him.