Resuscitating Our Kids in a Dying World 2

#2 LOVE

 Another function that sustains life for our children is LOVE.

The movie starred an animated princess thrown into a natural world, the real world and she landed in (of all places)... New York!  She was confused about her surroundings, but she relentlessly kept looking for her true love, she knew he was near and looking for her.   Even though people around her were rude, rushing around and didn't seem to notice her, her response to them was still loving and kind.  


Before being caught in a rain storm, she had her tiara stolen from a vagrant with really bad teeth and the harshest thing she could yell at him was “You are not a very nice old man!”  At one point in her frustration, she told her rescuer about the difficult time she was having and he sarcastically smiled and said, “Welcome to New York.”  Without a blink, she smiled and responded, “Why, thank you!”  He didn’t believe in love, but she did and in her attempt to help him with his relationship problems, she broke out into song and began singing, “How does she know you love her?”

We love fairy tales from Disney's "Enchanted", but this is not what our children see everyday. 

When we look at the world today, we hear about so many parents that abuse and hurt their children.  So many kids act out in anger because that is what they know. What they see today is not love.  People who want someone or something so bad they will kill to get it.   How will a young child who is born into a family where someone has died or been hurt in a bad relationship ever trust that love is safe or real?

A child in the line at a grocery store is not caring what political affiliation you are when they peer at you over their parent’s shoulder.  A smaller baby may look at you strangely, but mainly because you are a new face to them. They may be curious, slightly timid, but when the smile covers their face, they are not wondering about your background, race or what neighborhood you live in.  Children are born into so many different environments, but they come out ready and willing to love. The problem is how we pass on our own hatefulness to our children as they listen to what we say about others. 

Our children need and deserve a lifeline of love, we have to do better at allowing our kids to see love so they can love.  Especially since God is love.  We have to do better at loving each other or our children have no example of it.  

How will they know you love them?

Not only should our kids see and experience love from their parents, they should have genuine love and guidance from those around them.  It still takes a village to raise a child.  Since we don’t have liberties that our grandparents had, we can’t openly hug or correct a child, but we can still genuinely care them.  Be there to support them as they grow.  Teach them, mentor them, challenge them, show them how to make good choices.  When we speak well of them, we remind them of purpose and God’s undying love for them!  More than anything else, to show our kids love, we have to be seen showing it to others. 

They know love based on what you do more than what you say.  

Resuscitating Our Kids in a Dying World

Death can be defined as the termination of functions that sustain life.

There are basic functions that have sustained us, without these functions, life can seem to lack meaning.   Since we know that life is found in God, this is the first of a series that talks about a few things we need to instill in our youth to resuscitate them. If we fail to turn this downward trend, we may lose the next generation.

#1 HOPE

As kids, we used to play all day long!  We would meet up with a couple of friends early in the morning and run through the neighborhood, jump fences, and ride bikes. Though our surroundings were familiar, every day our imaginations would send us to places far away.  We didn’t pay much attention to what tomorrow would bring… tomorrow would just come… and in a sense it would take care of itself.  Our parent’s joy was in sending us out of the house while they recouped energy we drained from them. Even if we got mad at our parents, and talked of running away, we were still back home before the streetlights came on.  That is not how things are for our kids today. Tomorrow can be a challenge to want to see.

A friend that no longer calls, a heart string that is no longer there, a group of kids that think teasing is funny. They are surrounded with temptations to join groups or gangs just to belong.  Parents that have financial or relational issues, too busy to notice a change in countenance.   Our kids are faced with situations that somehow they feel are insurmountable.  Why would a child bring a gun to school?  What happens that makes them think this is an actual way out?  Why would they take their life because of someone else’s opinion?  We can’t imagine the pain they must feel for life to seem to be so… hopeless.

 What would we really do without hope?  Hope keeps us looking towards tomorrow, towards something better, different something good.  Our kids are more suicidal than we ever were, and if we were and we lived past that horrible time, we learned that our challenges were survivable, the world is not perfect, but trouble does not last always!  Our kids need to know and understand that.  They need to know that the sufferings today cannot be compared to tomorrow.  Give your kids hope so they desire to stay here to see tomorrow.  

Real hope is found in God.   I wish I could pretend for those who don’t want to hear it.   But He is the one who makes tomorrow bearable, meaningful.  He is the one who will help us to see past today.  Faith in God is hard to describe to those who are not interested, but for the sake of our kids… point them to Him. He is a lifeline that this generation needs. 

1 Timothy 6:17-19 

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust (hope) in their money, which is so unreliable. Their hope should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.  Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this,  they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.