A few years ago, I was driving through a little town along the Ohio River, lecturing my daughter about her passion, (at the time,) for breaking things. It seemed like every time we bought her something new, she took pleasure in destroying it. Not just a little either - straight demolishing the new toy or book. The latest victim was a spendy, play grocery store we had purchased. 

In the middle of my sentence, I felt the Holy Spirit say: “What’s more important: The grocery store or her spirit? Instantly I felt convicted. As she was breaking toys left and right, I in turn was breaking her little spirit. Though I wanted her to learn to take care of the things she was given, I was placing more emphasis on the things. Even though they weren’t more important than her, the Holy Spirit convinced my words and lectures to mean so. 

In reflecting over the next few weeks and now years, I wondered: How many times had I broken something that God had made or planned for me?

How many times had I taken something that could have been good and turned it into something sinful? 

How many times had I, or better yet do I, fail to do what God is asking me to do?

As parents, we invest in our children by buying them nice things to have and to play with. It’s one of the ways that we show them that we love them. Yes, we want them to take care of the gifts that we give them; but in the same sense, we cannot value the gifts that we give more than the person. This has been a lesson for me. At the end of each day, I have found that it’s more important to let my children know that I love them unconditionally. They will mess up, sin, break things, and leave messes in the wake of their days, but none of those things matter more than building them up to understand that regardless of what they do each day, that I love them, and God loves them more than they can ever fully know or understand. 

Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” 

Despite our actions, our words, our pasts, our presents, and our future, God gave us the best gift of all: Jesus. Through Him, we have everything that we need. If we can communicate that with our children, despite whatever phases of life they walk through, we are offering them the best gift we can ever give. It’s truly indestructible and gives more life than we can ever understand. 

So in the midst of stages, we are walking through, let us practice the words from Deuteronomy 11:18-21, “Imprint these words of mine [Scripture] on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers.”