How many times have we tried to live our lives through our kids? You know what I’m talking about. We loved to play basketball, the piano, make crafts—so our kids should follow in our footsteps, right? Who doesn’t want our kids to be successful and enjoy the same things that we’ve enjoyed in our lives? But, what if they don’t like playing basketball…and would rather play soccer? Or, maybe they’re tone-deaf, and they’re better at working with wood than a keyboard? The first rule of thumb is to let them have fun. Try different things. I loved ALL sports, but, frankly, I wasn’t a very good athlete in any of them. And that’s going to be the case for most of our kids. What’s the lesson? “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23, ESV).

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Suggested Reading: Colossians 3:23-24