AUGUST 5, 2025 ~ FROM A PASTOR'S HEART

AUGUST 5 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: PSALM 73:25-28

Our children are the most precious gift the Lord gives us. In this world they are the NUMBER 1 priority of all the people we will ever share with...we will ever love...we will ever minister to. The Lord places the responsibility of the nurturing of their hearts on we parents.

In this time in which we live, if we are not careful, we can treat our children as if they exist to make us look good. When people ask about our kids, we all usually speak about the activities that they are involved in and how they doing in those. Rarely, do you hear parents talk about where their children are spiritually. It may be because most of us approach parenting as if it is an exercise in behavioral modification, rather than a call to nurture our children's hearts and spirits. We have learned this well from the church, that often is more concerned with how things look, rather than how things are.

Some would say, wait a minute, isn't behavior important? Shouldn't we be training our children how to act, how to treat others, how to live? Well, yes we should, but we need to understand that it is through a nurtured heart, a loved spirit, that people, including our children, have a real change. Pressuring someone to perform only last as long as the performance is necessary…ministering to their spirits and nurturing their hearts, leads to a changed life. If we are not careful with our kids, we will spend our lives worrying how things look (mostly how they make us look)...than really being concerned for who our kids really are. If we take care of the heart...the actions will follow.

Please share your thoughts.