Children get very excited when they go shopping with their parents to their favorite mall.
“Mom, I need this and that!”
“Dad, I need this and that too!” children shout with joy.
But your eyes are filled with worries as you stare down at the price tags.
And because it’s not just about price, parents’ concerns go deeper: is it educationally sound to buy or
not? ‘Why do children need this these days…? Is it right to buy this for my child? This is so confusing!’
But they’re so sure of it, and then they tell you that all their friends have them. And to top it all off, they
tell you that they can’t hang out with their friends without them.
‘I can’t help it. This will have to do.’ And parents reluctantly pick it up and head to the checkout.
Sound familiar? There’s a widespread culture of buying our kids more stuff than they actually need, and I
recently read an article about parents buying their elementary school kids backpacks that cost $900.
My initial assumption that I could protect my family as long as I didn’t embrace secular cultures around
us has proven to be too naive. As we can see from the worldwide usage of smartphones, a highly
symbolic product of the latest technological advancements, to the remotest corners of the world, no one
is immune to ever growing secular culture. Does this mean all hope is lost? No!
We live by faith, not by sight. (1 Corinthians 5:7, NIV)
This is it. This is why we have hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eve and Adam were also excited by what they saw. The serpent came and tempted Eve. The fruit looked
“good and pleasant to the eyes” to the excited Eve. After tasting the fruit, Eve went to Adam and told
him the news. Adam felt what we would call “peer pressure,” and he too fell. (Genesis 3) It’s a vicious
cycle that repeats itself in many forms today – not just with adults, but with our children, who are just as
innocent as Adam and Eve in Eden.
I gathered my children and talked about our family’s values. In order to help them understand that our
family’ live by faith and not by sight’, I had to share with them my own past mistakes. I confessed there
was a time when I, too, had been deceived by the shiny things of the world and longed for fancy cell
phones, cars, computers and so forth. I also appealed to the “fact” that you can still be happy and
confident without wearing the latest fashion, makeup, jewelry, etc. I also added that I actually meet
people who are truly happy and confident because they ‘live by faith and not by sight’.
The children seemed to be getting it, but they still needed more convincing. I could see that they were
torn between the excitement of being able to have the items they wanted and their love for the Lord.
“It’s not a sin to want something, but it’s the state of your heart where it counts. If you think, ‘I’ll be
happier if I get the thing I’ve been longing for, and I’ll be accepted by my friends if I have it,’ then you live
by sight; but if you think, ‘God, there’s something I’ve been longing for, and I wonder if you’ll give it to
me,’ then you live by faith. Which life do you want to live? By faith? Or by sight?”
“And it’s also about the state of your heart when you finally get what you really wanted. If you brag and
say, ‘I’m so happy because I finally got what I wanted,’ you live by sight. But if you can say, ‘Thank you,
God, you are the one who gave this to me, and I am willing to give this to someone else anytime you
want me to,’ you live by faith.”
Is it okay to not brag but still show what you have to others? Some children can have innovative ideas.
But No!
If you have no intention of giving it, but you’re still showing it off, that’s what we call bragging.
Please ask your children to join you in prayer. It is okay to wait for your children if they are not ready yet.
After the prayer, I could see that my children’s minds were somewhat cleared. After few days, my first
born daughter ran into my arms with excitement, and said,
“Dad, you know what? I think I lived by faith today!”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Do you remember I really wanted to have that pencil case we saw in the mall. I didn’t think about it the
whole day! Even when my friend asked me about it, I just said “Okay” and walked past. Isn’t that
amazing?”
Even my daughter was surprised by what happened to her. She was obsessed about it. Thinking and
talking about it all day.
And just like that, the storm of worldly temptations passed. It occurred to me that maybe it’s time to fill
the hearts of our children with the wind of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 11:21-30)