Do you every find yourself worrying about what will become of the next generation? Maybe you wonder whether or not they will value the things that are really important. You might worry that they value isolation more than community. Maybe you feel like they are caught up in a consumer mindset. Is it possible that they value instant gratification more than the satisfaction that comes from working toward and investing in something over a long period of time?
To be sure, each person has to answer for his or her own priorities. Everyone is responsible to God for the way he or she lives his or her own life. Each generation will reap the benefits of being godly or pay the price for being worldly. But it is also true that you and I have a responsibility to the coming generations. The coming generations will influence our children and grandchildren. If we really want what’s best for them we can’t sit by and allow their culture to determine their direction. We have to empower them to live counter cultural lives when culture tries to take them in the wrong direction.
The Bible says it this way:
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. . . . so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments (Psalm 78:4,7 ESV).
Empowering the next generation means being willing to talk openly about right and wrong. It means not avoiding difficult subjects because they might embarrass us. It means talking about what God has done in the past and what he expects from us in our own futures and in theirs.
May we never be ones to worry about future generations. Let us instead be the kind of people who are determined to be great teachers and encouragers.
