Foundational Legacy

I wrote this for my lifelong friend when I was unable to be at her baby shower many miles away.  My Mom was encouraged by what I wrote, and wished for others to hear what the Lord revealed to me using a passage of Scripture on the role of investing in future generations.  You may or may not be a parent, but the vast majority of us have children somehow involved in our lives. My hope is that no matter what season of life you are in, this will be biblical encouragement for your life.  What is written below is written in letter form (with minor adjustments to generalize for the public) for my precious sister in the Lord on the birth of her 2^nd child (my adopted niece).  

Friend,

Although I am not yet a parent myself, I have been blessed to have many “child rearing” hours with my nieces and nephews, uniquely more than a typical aunt. I also have a wise mother and father who have learned through their own series of triumphs and mistakes. Yet, they have remained teachable to the Lord and continue to pour their lives into their grandchildren. I glean much wisdom from sitting at their feet.  Truth is Truth, whether you are a parent or not.  I know you believe this and can fully embrace my heart, as well as the places I’ve been with the Lord teaching and sanctifying me.  I am thankful you can receive this parenting encouragement from me though unmarried and yet without babes of my own. 

Let’s dive into the fresh, living water of His Word and read…

1 Corinthians 3:9-23 (NASB)

⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

¹⁸ Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” ²¹ So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, ²³ and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.

This passage is called “Foundations for Living.”  I don’t think it excludes the foundations that we give the next generation.  I was struck by the fact that the Lord wants us CONSTANTLY to weigh how we parent children by its value of eternal weight of glory.  In every generation, there are “trends” to parenting…whether its bottle feeding vs. breastfeeding, organic foods or Gerber®, cloth diapers vs. disposable, high law vs. low grace or vice versa, and the list goes on and on.  However, the bottom line is even the “good” parents can argue in their position to choose something in the raising of their children. We often miss the questions we should really be asking, such as: “How does this prepare my children to meet Jesus as their Savior? Do I create an environment that encourages my children to long for Jesus Christ?  Do I display to my children that I have been redeemed and live only by the power of the Holy Spirit within me? What foundation am I giving my children?”

You see, even though we can make “good” choices for our babies/children from the food they eat to the clothes they wear, if we make the “good” choices the focus (instead of Jesus Christ being the focus), all they learn is law without Christ’s fulfillment.  Satan deceives indwelt believers more through focusing on the good that thwarts God’s best, than he does getting them to focus on blatant sin/evil.  If we focus so much on the decisions we make in the temporal to the point where we stress out over what is the best bedtime routine, the right organic baby food, the best diapers, the right school curriculum, and so forth, then we will build a foundation that will not last and will not affect them for eternity (v12-13). Satan is thrilled when we focus on the “right thing” without the right motive/focus.  Our children may even grow up to become chosen indwelt believers, but if we do not focus on the life of Christ doing His work in and through them, we are not preparing them to have a foundation that will remain…a foundation that will be rewarded in eternity (v14-15).  Decisions for your children, my friend, need to come forth from the life of Christ IN you and your spouse.  Even well-meaning “good things” can detract from God’s eternal plan for your children.  Remember, so many of the choices we make here on earth are NOT for the here and now, but for generations to come and for eternity that is to be set in our hearts.  Our citizenship is not here on this earth (Phil. 3:20). Although we embrace that in the knowledge of our minds, do we live it out in our beliefs and choices, pointing back to God’s infinite glory?  Do we demonstrate this to the next generation?  

There is nothing to boast in but Christ Jesus as Lord (v21, 23), because belonging to Christ is all we need.  He paid the price of law; He fulfilled it so we can be free to walk in His grace…the perfect blend of His precepts and His doctrines, His judgment and His love, and all the things that seem an oxymoron to us are really the completion of His work through co-death, co-burial, co-resurrection, and co-ascension! This is what we must boast of to our children. What we must convey, they boast to others about. Anything less is a shaky foundation made up of Christian works, behavioral changes, and a life of striving for a freedom that God already offers us.  It’s finished from the moment He chooses and reveals His plan of salvation to the ripe heart. 

Do not be deceived (v18) by what appears to be wisdom, but really is only a worldly fable.  God’s wisdom doesn’t look brilliant to our flesh or the world, but it is. You will be blessed raising your children with an eternal foundation.  Because when we get to heaven, He won’t be concerned about what baby food we gave them, what diapers we used, or what bedtime routine we followed.  He will look to see the foundation we placed before them and if we seized Christ as Life and poured His Life into our discipline and training of their lives.  He isn’t looking for a perfect parent who never walks after his/her flesh.  He is looking for a humble parent who will reconcile his/her mistakes to their children, a teachable parent who asks other body members in Christ for Truth, and a parent who always runs counsel against God’s Word.    He isn’t looking for a strong parent. He is looking for a parent who says, “I am weak, a nobody. WITHOUT the indwelling life of Christ Jesus, I cannot parent this child.”

Take heart on your journey, my friend. With each child He grants you, He grants you not human ability, but His very life. He doesn’t make you stronger, he makes you weaker…so that you will rely and be dependent upon Him for raising up children in the Lord. The very One who created you, created your child!  He understands how you are both fashioned and wired (quirks and all!), and He will guide you through the dark nights and the sunny days, all for His glory. Surrender to the sanctification your children bring, and constantly share your foundation for the eternal.  They will be blessed!!!

 “For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8).

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.