In my profile are two of my kids, Brandie and John (I am in the middle.)This >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
is my Oldest Larry, he is now an official volunteer fire fighter for our local fire department! Go Larry III! Yes there is someone under all that stuff and yes he is old enough. He also got accepted into COCC!!!!!! I can't believe it but he will be 20 in Sept. Wow where did the time go.
Now I am not just bragging on my kids.
I spent a lot of the kid's childhood years sweating the small stuff. Battling them over just about everything. You know the shoes, the dirty dishes, the hair, not taking out the garbage, doing their homework.
I did get them to go to church willingly most of the time . But for some reason I didn't get through to them that I don't like them wearing jeans to church!!!
That's not how I was raised and that's not how I am convicted why can't they see that ???
Then I hear this question:
Really, does that matter, as long as they hear My Words??? Should it matter for now?
Some denominations like parents get so caught up in what one should wear that they forget about the convictions, and teachings, and the love that needs to be spread.
It is not the clothes that makes a man, It is a mans integrity and soul that makes a man a man.
Yes the bible says we should dress modestly, that woman should not wear what pretanethith to men. But do we really need to make a big issue when someone who hasn't ever heard God's message before only to alienate those who don't see what is wrong with their ways and turn them off to God completely?
My clothes are my witness to where God has led me, not because my church dictated to me what I have to wear. Not because my Grandmother or Mom forced me to wear them. As a matter of fact my mom was so anti dresses at church it drove my Grandma and Grandpa nuts.
So why am I so upset about how my kids look in church??? In truth I don't want to look like a hypocrite, or get in embarrassed because my kids don't comply with my images, my wishes, or my convictions.
My kids are just trying to fit in with their crowd, and as my daughter showed me this weekend on stage in worship in her jeans playing the guitar, she was witnessing to her peers the way God called her to. I have grown past that stage of life to I really don't care if I fit in a certain mold. But my kids that is life to them right now. They want to fit in and not stand out. Why should it bother me so that my kids choose not to follow in my footsteps?? In the bigger picture I have learned it doesn't matter. They need to follow God's calling in their lives and obey God convictions when God asks them too.
This weekend our church was filled with over 100 kids in Jr. High School and High School. They knew 1 Corinthians and @ 2 Corinthians front words and back words. Many of them had those two books of the bible memorized word for word from the N.I.V. version. It was truly amazing to watch these kids quiz.
I got to wondering though. How many of their coaches asked these kids to apply these scriptures to their lives or if they where going to apply the scriptures to their life? How many coaches where out just for that win. I heard one adult tell one child they needed to step up their game because they were hurting the teams average. While others said no worries it is the last meet of the season have fun and learn. Did these kids get the true meaning of the message that they were memorizing?
How many of these kids were just going through the motions? How many of the kids are just as lost as they were at the beginning of the Quiz year. Do they truly get what is being said in God's word and the meaning behind it? OR is it just something they have to do to win a prize or just to make the coach/mom happy. Many of the kids got it!
How much time did I lose forcing my kids to dress nicely for church. Just to have the kids grudgingly go to church mad at me, because Mom didn't like what they were wearing and how many Sunday School lessons weren't heard, or Sermons taken in? What if my kids missed the real message that day because they were stewing over something as trivial as clothing, that I their mom forced them to wear because of my beliefs my convictions? Aren't we all called to do Gods work differently? Does this not apply to the kids. How stronger of a Christian would they be if I wasn't so up tight over a pair of jeans??
Yes it is still going to bother me to see my kids in church in jeans. But I will bite my tongue and ask God to open my heart to the message that needs to be heard that day, I will pray that my kids will be a witness to their friends, and that they too hear God's word, no matter what they wear. And then I will worship with a pure heart.
Debbi
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