Life is so busy in 2019 -- both out of necessity and because of the choice we and our children make. But we cannot keep our children so busy there is not time to connect with God. Most importantly we adults need to take time to be alone with God so we can love our children with God’s love.

God is full of grace and mercy and as mentors or parents or teachers we need to reflect that to our children.  God still acts with justice and punishes sins when they are not covered by the blood of Jesus through faith. That law reality needs to be taught to our children so that the gospel is needed, bright and powerful.

Is tattling always wrong?  Anytime someone does anything to hurt others or to make themselves look better -- it is a sin.  But there are times we need to go to authorities for the sake of the authority and for the person misbehaving.  Training our children to be loving disciple teammates that hold others accountable and are willing to be held accountable is the art of discipling.

Our children need to practice having authority and wielding grace.  We find ways to let them supervise siblings or classmates and direct them on how to not abuse that power.  The best way to train them is to model it for them and point them to God’s total power and abundant grace.

Most have to admit that they can never pay their mother back for what she did for them.  Just giving birth is more than anyone can pay back. We can still try by loving our parents and caring for them when they are older and need us.  We cannot pay God back for his mercy and care and gifts but we train our children to live a life of paying back.

How much forgiveness is too much? Our children keep doing the same wrong things. Our spouse does the same wrong thing. We do the same wrong thing! Forgiveness might seem to have a limit, but not with our God in Jesus. Forgiveness is the key in relationships and training our children.

God trusts us with the next generation. He could just send angels to raise them but he trusts us. He also trusts us with the keys to heaven and that we would use them with our children and teach them to use them. Unfortunately, they are underused and under-appreciated.

Confess? When most hear that word they assume it is confessing some crime or evil. When do our children hear about someone saying what they hold to be true and seeing that as a beautiful, admirable thing? This age has made our hearts’ beliefs out to be private but God calls us to be public. Train your scholars, mentees and kids on how to boldly confess.

Do you take for granted that children love Jesus? Do you love to hear them sing about Jesus and say who he is? How much more does God love to hear voices proclaim who is he! Rejoice that anyone -- especially our children know Jesus is their Savior.

There are many different opinions about who Jesus is. Our children will be confronted and surrounded by different thoughts. We need to ready the next generation for this and help them truly listen and understand where others are coming from so they can share the hope they have.