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Education Ministry

Posted on March 7, 2006 ...

It used to be that when young persons became romantically involved, their parents would ask, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWho are his (or her) parents??¢‚Ǩ¬ù This was not a question of casual interest, but a serious inquiry. It was assumed that the reputation of the parents would reveal something of the character of the child. If the parents were fine, upstanding citizens, it stood to reason that their children would share these same good qualities. If, however, the parents were ?¢‚Ǩ?ìof the wrong sort,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù the children bore the burden of that stigma. Of course, there were exceptions. Sometimes good people came from bad parents and sometimes bad people came from good parents. Still, it made sense to want your son or daughter to marry into a good family.

Today, this issue does not seem to carry as much weight, although maybe it should. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are the product of the families in which we were raised. For years, our families were our source of knowledge and understanding about the world. Our parents were our primary role models. They taught us not only to walk and talk and feed ourselves, but also what to believe, what to embrace, and what to fear. No one has a neutral view of life. Your world view was formed in the context of your family; its foundation was laid by parents who had their own biases and convictions. Listen to a young child and you will hear the beliefs and views of the parents. Consider, too, how often you find yourself saying the same things to your kids that your parents said to you; in spite of the pact you made with yourself that you would never say them. Indeed, who we are is greatly influenced by those who raised us.

It could be argued that we are influenced by other things as well: The company we keep, organizations to which we belong, the people we admire, the society in which we live. In truth, many forces are at work around us, pulling us this way and that. The content of our character then becomes a matter of the degree to which these forces are allowed to succeed. Who we are reveals what (or who) it is that possesses us.

I doubt most people give much thought to this. They simply are who they are with little consideration of how they got that way. But for the Christian, this is a matter of great importance. If you claim the name of Jesus, then there are certain qualities that must be evident in your life ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú namely, the same qualities that were evident in His life. It makes no sense for those who claim to belong to God to exhibit the behavior and attitudes of those who do not. Christians are different, but they are different for a specific reason: They belong to God. Real Christians should be able to easily identify qualities within themselves (such as attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and decisions) that can be explained only by the fact that the Holy Spirit lives within them and they are intentionally submitting themselves to His will. Whose you are says a lot about who you are. (See 1 John 3:10)
--Michael