What Are We Teaching Our Children?

Keith Hernandez was one of baseball's top players, who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. He went on to become a television broadcaster.

Hernandez was perhaps the best fielding first baseman of all time. Yet, with all his accomplishments, he missed out on something crucially important to him, -- his father's acceptance and recognition that what he had accomplished was valuable. In an interview he told of the time he asked his father, 'Dad, I have a lifetime 300 batting average. What more do you want?' His father replied, 'But someday you're going to look back and say, ‘I could have done more.’"

Imagine Keith’s pain when his father said that! All he wanted was his father’s acceptance, and unconditional love. It’s something we all need, especially when we’re children. One of the things children fear most is being rejected. Our words and our actions can cause children to think: I’m not loved, I’m not accepted.

I am the mother of seven amazing children, and I urge you parents to pray for your children. Help them know and feel they are loved and accepted – first by God, by you, and by their peers. Be very intentional and verbal in expressing your love. Tell them how valuable they are to God, and to you. And for each time you need to correct or scold them, I challenge you to express your love and encouragement at least three times.

If you find this hard to do, remember that God loves and accepts us, even when we are wrong. He says, “I have chosen you and not cast you away.” And, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Friend, our Father God loves you and accepts you. Let’s all pass that along to our children! And when you donate online, at http://fjm.org, you will help me pass along this truth to lost, lonely people here on Skid Row. That’s http://fjm.org.