Impacting the Next Generation.....

"Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation."
~ Joel 1:3 

There are so many verses in the Bible that talk about the generations to come and how we should be telling them the wonderful works that the Lord has done. God wants His works to be remembered down through the generations.  He wants us to be thinking multi generationally. 

How are you influencing the next generation?  Whether or not we have little ones of our own, we are impacting the next generation, though we may not always realize it.  They are watching us!  What will they glean from watching how we live and from listening to what we say?  

  I have been observing how families are raising their children and it has been interesting.  At times my heart has been filled with joy to see parents instilling in their young children the fear of the Lord and expecting much from them.  Other times, my heart has been grieved when I see parents who don't seem to fully grasp this.
 

 Raising the next generation is such an amazing privilege!  We need to catch a vision for them that is God glorifying!  Don't waste your children's growing up years by, for example, letting them watch media that is not wholesome.  There are so many children's books and media out there that are not good for little ones to be drinking in and being influenced by. These young years of their life are very impressionable ones, so impress wholesome things into their lives. Teach them the joy of doing things that really matter.  Work on projects together!


"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." ~ Philippians 3:12

We will never be perfect in this life, but we need to be always giving all diligence to growing and pressing towards Christ-likeness, raising the next generation in the fear of God.  Alert, vigilant, and standing firm in the Lord, not man fearing and slack in our walk.  May we be daily diving into God's Word and really living out what it says, depending on Him in prayer.  Making sure our mindset is really in line with His Word instead of the world's way of thinking.  
 

For those of us who are not married, we have just as much of a responsibility to impact the next generation.  Older kids have a huge influence on the younger ones.  May our lives point them to the Savior and what is truly worth living for!

 At age 26 and not yet married, I say all of this with great respect to all who are married and have children.  In sharing these things, I know that observing can be different than actually being in the "thick of it all".  But in the midst of changing diapers, the sleepless nights, and during days when you are tempted to give in to the the easier way; don't lose sight of the goal of raising a generation that is glorifying to the Lord and the great task and privilege He has given you! 

So I ask again, how are we impacting the next generation?

"God's creation of new life, the making of a new generation, is a miracle we should never get used to." ~Nathaniel Darnell