Our world is changing faster and faster. Children and parents alike experience “information overload.” Young people have more choices than ever simply because of increased digital connection and resources being made available. Even more, whatever is good and bad start to look much the same; in our online world, there is not moral or ethical center. So what is it that guides our children? As a father, this is a great concern of mine.
In raising our three children, I am always trying to share life lessons that stand the test of time and the test of life; to impart truths that never change and call us back to what is important. And I have found that nothing “sticks” more than an “F-word.” The only thing that sticks better (it seems) is three of them!
So I would like to share some fatherly advice with you. The three F-words for what is most important in life.
Friends
The first F-word is friends. Everyone needs friends, even those who don’t have any. Our relationships are most important and nothing happens without them. Guard them. Start them. Build them. Fix them. Friends are worth the effort and worth fighting for.
Focus
Without focus, purpose if lost. No one was made to do nothing, so do something. Give yourself to making a difference in the lives of others, and for that to happen you have to focus on making things happen. Don’t allow the world to stay the same or to drift.
Forgiveness
You will get offended by someone and by something. You will want to get angry, get even, get hurt. But you will never get up again until you learn to forgive others. And there will of course be times when you will need to ask someone else to forgive you.
And one thought for “fathers” (another f-word): The impression we make on children are invisible at first. But the impression we leave is the mark of our own character. To “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6) requires parents to lead the way themselves.
