Many of us might say that having the word, “failure” and “our children” in the same sentence terrifies most of us. We also know growth and wisdom come through hard work, and even struggle. Madi reminds us how giving our kids multiple opportunities for good, hard work can mature them greatly!

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Colossians 3:23

I remember growing up and every week having a list of responsibilities I was in charge of around the house. Although I truly did not love the assignments I was given by my parents, I learned how to prioritize, complete tasks with all that I had in me and appreciate the work I was doing.These chores my parents assigned me throughout my time at home, greatly affected the type of work ethic I have even to this day.

Let’s dive into some ways that we can instill a good work ethic into our children, and as T Bar M would say ways they can always be excelling still more!

1. Let them be independent. Allowing our children to have independence in tasks and in life can be very difficult. Many children, after given sufficient instructions, thrive and crave independence. When our children have big projects or jobs they would rather completely rely on us for, we could cripple them by consistently stepping in vs letting them experience success or failure. We don’t want our kids to fail or to do life completely alone, but we want them to have space to try things and experience ways they can grow independently!
2. Value in all work. Man oh man this is something our kids need to know and believe! There is value in everything we do because we should be doing everything for the Lord. I can easily fall into the temptation of believing that cleaning the house or mowing the yard are little tasks that don’t matter. Our kids fall into this just as easily! We need to make sure we are encouraging our children to have the mindset of Colossians 3:23, [do everything as for the Lord not men]! Especially this week, let’s help our children see the fruit of their labor and the value of the work they are doing, from the smallest to largest scale of tasks!
3. Model this. There is no “do as I say not as I do” mentality when it comes to leading our children. We want to make sure that we are modeling behavior, words, and values we want our children to look up to and repeat. We want our children to be able to look to us and see that in every area of our life we are giving it our all and working at it like we are working for the Lord…because we are!! Invite your children into conversations about ways they see you excel still more day to day!

Camper Corner

Who in your life do you see working for the Lord and not for man? In what area of your life do you feel like you work as if working for men more for the Lord and how can you change that? Talk this over with your parents!