Close your eyes… Ok well don’t actually because then you can’t read this. But take a second and picture each one of your children at age 30. What are they doing? Where do they work? Where do they live? Did they go to college? Maybe the armed forces? Do they volunteer? Do they attend church? Do they follow Jesus?

Being a productive adult, contributing positively to society, caring for others, having a successful career, the list goes on of goals many parents have for their children. While many of these are great to strive for, as Christian parents we should have a clear number one amongst the goals we have for our children… Have them love God and follow Him all the days of their lives.

This isn’t to say we don’t strive for other things, but when we do, we do so as a secondary goal to their primary discipleship. Our lives, the way we parent, how we spend our time, our priorities, should all reflect our number one goal. Take a minute to reflect on a few areas of your life.

• Your schedule. If someone looked at your family calendar, would it reflect that raising your children to love the Lord is the number one goal? Or does it reflect that raising the next Messi, Jordan, or Mahomes is your number one priority? 
• Your relationships. Are you taking time to build your family relationships? Do you have family dinners? Fun time together on weekends? Are you providing hospitality to your neighbors? Your friends? People at your church? Or are you spending most of your time scrolling screens and binge watching the latest shows?
• Your parenting. Are you reading the Bible with your kids? Are you teaching them how to read and study on their own? Do you pray with them? Are you modeling for them a personal discipleship journey with the Lord? Or do you skip this morning’s time in the Word to watch some videos on social media?

Now please hear me say… sports, binge watching a show, some time on social media are not inherently bad things. But they do become a problem when they become more important than our relationship with God and people. We are setting the stage for our kids on what matters in life. Are we setting a stage that says God matters most?