Train Up Tuesday: THE Greatest Love of All

There has been so much to say about Ms. Whitney Houston's death. Much of it reflects sadness not only on how many of us presume she passed, but also over how she chose to live much of her life. She provided so many "anthems" that are considered the "gold standard" in music now. Unfortunately, between the lines of her songs and her life is clearly marked sadness and loneliness unsuccessfully veiled with false self-confidence. And even more unfortunately, these songs really are anthems for this generation.

Consider today "The Greatest Love of All", it speaks of how children today need to be taught well and led, how in her own search for a "hero", she found no one to meet her needs and found loneliness as a result. In attempt to take care of herself, she looked to herself to find that the "greatest love" is "learning to love yourself". Sadly, in the end, she learned that this was not enough after all.

Is this enough for our children? Looking to themselves for their safety, love, acceptance? There HAS to be more that we can teach them! Well, I have GREAT news, WE CAN teach them and show them a better way!

Do you know THE Greatest Love of all? Of course, I'm talking about Christ, primarily. But there is something more I want to share. If you are married, it is your marriage relationship. Read Ephesians 5:22-29 for full context, but read this quote by John Piper:

The main meaning of marriage is to display the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. In other words, marriage was designed by God most deeply, most importantly, to be a parable or a drama of the way Christ loves his church and the way the church loves and follows Christ. This is the most important thing for all husbands and wives to know about the meaning of their marriage.

"Marriage Is Meant for Making Children...Disciples of Jesus, Part 1." (Sermon delivered on June 10, 2007).

I came across this during our youth group's Sunday night gatherings. We are using a resource from "Children Desiring God."

Teaching our children to love, value, and respect the marriage covenant IS the way we can teach them and lead them in the greatest love of all and in leading others towards that. Are you valuing that relationship? Are you doing everything to protect it and honor it, to make it of primary importance to your family? Are you preserving it for your children's sake and the sake of the unchurched? I've mentioned it here before, that Titus 2 isn't there just so we can have happy homes for our own sakes, but so that God's Word isn't dishonored. Do we really believe that?

One of my awesome girls in my 10th-12th grade small group that I am humbled to lead brought up something quite profound. We were discussing Satan's lies and how he makes the "traditional" family look unnecessary or lacking. I asked them why they thought Satan fights so hard to tear down the traditional family and makes divorce look acceptable and desirable. One dear girl said (and I paraphrase poorly), that Satan hates the picture of Christ loving the Church for eternity despite their shortcomings. He seeks to destroy that testimony to the world so that the world won't believe that Christ could really love them that much.

Wow! This is one girl who IS being led properly in her home and is learning to have that Christian worldview. And she is right. Satan does want to fight tooth and nail to blind us and the world to God's love and perfect plan.

Let me leave you with a slightly more inspirational song that you may hear today, in light of the greatest love of all. The message isn't perfect, but if you can "redeem" the lyrics in light of Christ's love for the Church and our love for Him, maybe you'll think a little differently next time you hear "I Was Made to Love Her". Take it, Stevie:

Train Up Tuesday: More Than a Cursory Glance

More than likely, if you follow this blog, you are probably pretty choosy about what your children are watching or what songs they are hearing. We are "those parents" in a lot of ways. The kind who are probably a little too strict on things regarding what we let our kids watch and hear.

Or at least, we try to be. But every once in a while, the guard isn't up as high as we like. Not intentionally but quite innocently. It might be letting the boys look over my shoulder while I search "Pinterest" for cool superhero cakes, or letting them watch the DVD that had not been previewed by Mom & Dad (because we remembered seeing it on television and not having any issues)....and THEN it happens. An image totally inappropriate for myself, much less my kids, sneaks into your image search (a search which is NOT supposed to contain "that" type of content). Or the DVD you didn't preview is not exactly the same as what you remember on TV and words creep through your set that are not in line with your standards.

Just another reminder that you HAVE to be proactive in guarding the hearts, mind, eyes, and ears of your children. Preview your searches before sharing exciting things with your kids. When they are old enough, DON'T let them search alone...even if they are in the same room with you (kids and computers are QUICK!). If they do search alone, do some research on all the filters available. Watch those DVDs and movies before they get the chance. Even if you use a great site, like Plugged In, to be your "preview", be sure that the movies meet your own personal guidelines before sharing them with young children. Individual children can often have their own personal limits about what they can handle. For example, I remember when we went to see "Up" as a family. Great movie. Adorable. But, at the time, my then 3 1/2 year old son was terrified of dogs (a frequent "nightmare" topic for him). It took a while to get past it. Another sidenote: just because it's animated, it doesn't mean it's suitable! Don't let what appears "innocent" get overlooked!

Just a helpful note to you based on our own recent experiences!

Have a terrific Tuesday!
Ashlie