You know all about…my purpose, faith, patience. (2 Timothy 3:10, NIV)
Your purpose
Does your son know what’s important to you? Does your daughter know what you’re trying to accomplish? What would your child say matters to you more than anything else? This is a great question to talk about with your kids. Ask them! The answer may be very revealing.
Your faith
Paul is talking about his faith, his personal trust and confidence in God. Do your children see you exercising faith in God through the tough times in your life? At some point, you will fail at this. You will come home tired and discouraged, and you’ll go on and on about the frustrations of your day, which might get you some sympathy, but you will know that it wasn’t from faith.
You might say, “Son, I owe you an apology. When I was droning on the other night, that wasn’t faith.” This could lead to a discussion about what it means to exercise faith when your back is against the wall. You could even say, “If you hear me speaking without faith again, I want you to call me on it. I want to be able to say with Paul, ‘You know all about my faith.’”
Your patience
Do you think patience came easily to the apostle Paul? Timothy knew all about the times when things did not move forward at the pace Paul wanted them to. We want our kids’ lives to be transformed… NOW! We try to make changes, and when it doesn’t work, we get discouraged. Don’t expect others to learn in 10 weeks or 10 months what God taught you over 10 years!
Which of these are you least comfortable sharing with your kids? Ask God for help.
