Looking back in history there is strong evidence that children had a lot more responsibility than today’s average teen. The Bible tells us that young David was about twelve when he killed a lion and a bear to protect his father’s sheep and about seventeen when he killed Goliath who stood nine feet, six inches tall.
Try getting today’s suburbuain child to go close to a lion, I dare you!
As impressive as the whole lion situation is, there is an even more important lesson here.
In order for David to be prepared to face the lion he had to be taught two things long before the king of the jungle came into the picture- responsibility and bavery.
Who do you think took on the job of teaching these much-needed character traits to this young man? The school system of the day, the elders of the Church or some brave soldier in the community? No! His parents did. While there is no mention of David’s mother in the Bible we do know that his father was Jesse, a direct descentent of Jacob- ya know, the guy who wrestled with God and consequently had his name changed by the Almighty?
Obviously this bloodline was NOT made of cowards. Wisdom, bravery and integrity are part of this family’s legacy. Such traits were taught, emphasized and passed down to future generations. Don’t get me wrong, these weren’t perfect people. Jacob, The Trickster, stole his brother’s inheritance then was tricked by his own uncle, Laban. Ten of Jacob’s sons agreed to sell son number eleven into slavery.
Yeah, they were liars, deceivers and thieves, definitely not perfect beings, but they were used by God anyway!!
See, even the most imperfect of us, myself included, can be used by God to do extraordinary things.
One book every adolecent/teen should read is “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris. This book is authored by teen brothers who were sick and tired of the teen-ager status quo. They got fed up with how little society expects of their age group, so, they decided to do something about it. In this book you’re taken on a journey where the teen brothers achieve things that are considered “far beyond their years”. The important lesson in this book is that both adults and teens need to REQIURE and EXPECT more of our youth. They’ll learn, rise to the challenge, meet our expectations and even surpass them, IF we give them a chance.
So, look at what you’re teaching your children. Do you feel they can do more? If you were their age right now, do you feel YOU could accomplish more than today’s average teen? If your answer is Yes, and I suspect it is, then why sell your teen short? Let’s not prepare them for an average life, let’s prepare them for an extraordinary one!
Teach them to “Do Hard Things” like owning a business, tracking expenses, prepare for retirement, deal with tough economic times and sacrifice that PS3 game now for financial freedom later on.
It’s up to us parents to get our children ready to bring down the real-life financial lions of the future.
Bright Balance Ministries 