Three things I want my son to know (4/4)

This is the fourth post in a series on parenting. It is not an attempt to give advice or solutions. Rather it is an attempt to highlight the importance of good parenting. And to highlight the things I think is important or at least some of them. Hopefully, it will inspire you to contribute to the conversation.

The series:

1. Nothing more important
2. Three things I want my children to know
3. Three things I want my daughter to know
4. Three things I want my son to know
   
   

In the previous posts, I first focussed on both my children and then on my daughter. Now, in this last post of the series, I will be focussing on my son.

1. Integrity

I dream of my son as a man of great integrity. We live in a very different time to the one I grew up in. Information is readily available and fake news is the order of the day. Everyone bombards you with information trying to convince you of their version of reality. Truth has become a very relative thing that seems to change shape in the ethereal mist created by information overload. As a result, integrity has become an extremely commodity.

I will reward my son every time he speaks the truth and celebrate every evidence of integrity. The world in which he will become an adult will be desperate for people of integrity!

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.
Pro 10:9 NLT

2. Purpose

I speak to people often who are desperately looking for a reason for their existence. They ask, 'Why am I here?' and 'What should I be doing with my life?'

We do not get to decide whether we spend our lives. Time marches on with or without our permission. We do, however, get to decide what we spend our lives on!

I pray that my son will decide early in his life what he wants to spend his life and his time on. And that he will find great joy in giving his life for a purpose worthy of his life.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
Mat 10:39 NLT

3. Affirmation

Yes, I know I have mentioned this twice already but there is going to be a third time. God spoke to His Son publicly, twice in recorded history. And He said the same thing each time!

"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

My son will receive affirmation from me at every possible opportunity. And he will hear my applause long after I'm gone. He is an awesome young man and will do well in whatever he chooses to do. However many admirers he gains in his lifetime, I will always be his number one fan.

Writing this series has been an intense experience for me. I was overwhelmed by how many things are competing in my head as absolutely essential for good parenting. And I often paused, feeling like an utter failure.

There are no guarantees in parenting. We have a lot less control than we think we have or may want to have. However, it is essential that we are intentional in what we do as parents. Often we just repeat what our parents did, hoping for better results. We are raising our kids in a time vastly different from our own childhoods. And we are raising them for a time even more different.

Thank you to everyone who read through this series. Thank you to everyone who contributed. I enjoyed your comments.

Please add your insights to this last post too.

@reonlouw