Materialism - Part 2

Thanks Dudley for Monday’s informative Family Matters on Materialism – our children are bombarded with 40,000 commercials a year … wow, what an impact! Can you imagine if you and I sent, “I love you” 40,000 times to our family what impact it would bring? Dudley addressed the question of, "How can you help your children resist the gravitational pull of materialism?" I appreciate his directives: Expose the lies, set spending, model contentment.
 
Family has more power than those 40,000 commercials put together!   The number one influencer in a child’s life is his or her parent(s). I’ve read it, heard it, seen it and lived it. You and I as parents have uncanny influence and it shouldn’t be a surprise that it is not through our words, rather through our actions and reactions. Our affections, biases, preferences, and fixations are welded down deeply into our children’s fibers. This is amazing yet convicting.
 
Our children absorb our modeling, both the good and the bad.  How well do we balance our obsessions with temporal things and eternal things? Our closet, garage, and living room is framing our children's values, priorities and affections. What messages are we sending them?
 
The following scriptures are very direct and helpful for living with an eternal perspective: Matthew 16:25-27; Luke 12:33-35; Matthew 6:20-22 .  Remember James 1:17 that every good and perfect gift is from above and parenting is one of the greatest gifts given. Parents, let’s let our example of dress, appetites, toys, etc. bring our kids to  focus on God and the things that matter to Him. Today, list out what those things are, and ask God for His assistance in making those matter to us.
 

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Camper Corner
All right, camper dudes and dudettes … don’t wear your folks out with draining their wallets. Seriously, how many computer games do you have that you haven’t touched all year? Help your parents be about things that are bigger than you... things that impact our world. From hunger, to eco systems to social actions and injustices, think outside the box, look outside your comforts; be “Ready to Go”, "Ready to Serve” and “Ready to Sacrifice” for things that last. Try cutting back on stuff and find out how little you really need. I’m not sayin' that nice things are wrong or bad – NOT AT ALL!  It’s how we use or abuse these resources that determine if they are constructive or destructive.  We are all stewards of our time, talents and treasures.