​6. The Cost of Losing Everything

I don’t want my daughter to be happy. I want her to live with integrity.

And sometimes, those are two very different things.

The other day, I mentioned the difference between living religiously and following Jesus. My friend mentioned she hadn’t considered the difference before, and I understand that mode of thinking. For a long time, I never realized there was a difference either. It’s because so many people have sullied what it means to be a Jesus follower. They take rules and tradition and manmade doctrine and ways you must look and dress and live in order to be a REAL Christian, all the while destroying the very essence of the Gospel.

If your heart isn’t focused on building relationships with those that don’t look or think like you and giving them a soft place to land, then you need to take a moment and have a heart-to-heart with God. You can know every ounce of Scripture and still be a Pharisee.

You can memorize all the Bible verses you want. If you don’t live them, then what’s the point?

And trust me, I’m writing this more to myself than you.

I don’t want my daughter to be an “in name only” Christian. I want her to be the kind that willingly gives her life for another. I want her to be the kind of person that doesn’t get squeezed out in our current state of affairs but lives boldly and courageously with a heart for God.

Make no mistake. The world is different now. And if your only goal is for your kids to be happy in this mess we call Earth, then you’re doing them a huge disservice.

Teach them instead the cost of losing everything and how that’s worth so much more than a feeling they can’t even hold in their hands.