“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity…Be diligent in these matters, give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.”  1 Timothy 4:12, 15

 Today, people talk about loving everything from ice cream to celebrities, when in reality; love is a much bigger deal than that.  Love isn’t just something one feels – an attraction or something you communicate only by saying it – love is something you do…it is an action.  Trust and love go hand in hand.  As a matter of fact, Psalm 85:10 tells us, “Love and faithfulness meet together….” We trust the people we love…so, we must be discerning when we determine to love a person and when we open ourselves up for them to love us.  We want to have wise hearts and to love well.

• Let’s pray that our sons and daughters will be wise when it comes to relationships. I have seen so many precious young men and women experience great pain and end up on a completely different life path than they had intended to because of poor decisions in relationships.  Let’s pray that they would love people the way the Lord would have them to, but that they would not be manipulated or taken advantage of.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Philippians 1:9

• Let’s remember that our children are not saviors. I have seen young ladies feel responsible to exhibit unconditional love to a young man who comes from an unhealthy home.  On the other hand, I have seen young men manipulated by girls who threaten to hurt themselves so that the boy will not end the relationship.  The young man then feels responsible to “save” her.  Let’s pray that our children would not develop a “savior” complex…there is one Savior and His name is Christ Jesus.  I think so often sweet Christian girls get involved in unhealthy, co-dependent relationships simply because they think it is the Christian thing to do.  Our job is not to save, but to point people to the One who can.

“We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” 1 Corinthians 8:1

• Let’s also pray for each other…that we would love our kids well; that we would be empathetic and understanding while encouraging them to be mighty in their faith. They are created to make a difference.  They just might change the world.

My love,