Aiming To Be The Worst

This weekend, Luke and I attended our very first homeschool convention. (Let the pencil-sharpening, curriculum-buying excitement ensue!) Don't worry, this isn't a post about teaching your kids at home, though I do highly encourage it!

No, this is a post about being the worst. That's right. I want you (and myself) to aim to be the worst.

One of the keynote speakers expressed his desire for this generation of homeschoolers to be remembered as one of the worst. And the reason we would be the worst is because the generation that comes after us would be a little bit better, and the next one a little bit better than that, and so on. It's not that he desired for us to aim to be "bad" teachers or to fail in any capacity; it's that he so longed for us to teach our children well and instill in them the desire to live out the same values that we treasure and that God desires, that they would carry that with them into adult-hood and then LIVE IT OUT even better than their parents did.

And how true this should be of every area of our spiritual lives!

I pray that my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids (should the Lord tarry that long) would each be better prayers; better lovers of Jesus; better servants; better husbands, wives, mothers and fathers; better Christ-followers. I simply desire them to be better.

In Exodus 20:5, we hear God say,

I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected-- even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

There are real and long-lasting consequences for unrepentant sin in our lives. When we choose to live apart from God's love and laws, it doesn't just affect us; it has serious ramifications for our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren and possibly beyond.

BUT!

If we read on to just the next verse, we learn that the opposite is also true!

But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. Exodus 20:6

A thousand generations! I don't think God is saying that we should actually count out one thousand generations into the future and that that is the precise lifetime of this particular blessing. This is basically God's way of saying that for those who choose to love him and obey him, there is permanent, long-lasting, eternal blessing for them and for those that come after them. Our children must choose for themselves to follow Christ, but there are real and significant effects of being part of a lineage and a heritage of Christ-followers. What an honor to be one of those ancestors along the way, laying the foundation of discipleship for those who will come after us.

May we impart our love for the Lord to our children, and they to their children. May we never be known as the "best". May we be so highly surpassed in faith and obedience by those who come after us that we would be remembered as one of the "worst".