Affirmation & Accolades

1 Timothy 3:13  “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”

When our kids were in school, we were delighted to watch them earn honors and trophies, weren’t we?  It was exciting to see our son or daughter excel and be recognized and it was affirming to us as parents that we must be doing something right, right?  

Whether it was honor roll or honor society, player of the year or the Varsity award, it made us proud.  We were on the sidelines screaming with the crowd or cheering from the stands as they walked across the stage.

It can be easy to get caught up in the accolades and there was always a risk that our kids would begin to define their own value by them, chasing those awards as the validation of their worth and skill.  It was our job as parents to keep them balanced and help them maintain perspective.  But when the season was over or the diploma was in hand, those defining moments ceased to define any longer. Then what?

Pursuing accomplishments as assurance of personal value and affirmation can become a vicious cycle that creates an endless pursuit of affirmation and accomplishment  based on goals that are temporal and efforts and skills that lack eternal value.  

Here’s the thing.  When our sons and daughters stand before the Lord, that honor roll certificate won’t mean anything.  That varsity letter won’t hold any weight.  That promotion or corner office can’t confirm their membership in the Body of Christ.

It’s important that we help our sons and daughters not only use their gifts and talents well and celebrate their accomplishments along the way.  But it’s also important that we help them understand that their spiritual character and growth in Christ holds an eternal value and transcends every season of life.  We need to care even more about their spiritual depth and commitment to Jesus than we do their resume.

“Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”  Let’s pray today that our sons and daughters serve well and with the correct motives, pursuing the affirmation that comes from the Lord and has eternal value.

“Heavenly Father, I pray for (name) today.  Please help them to love You more than awards and accolades.  Let them desire Godly character more than anything and help them to serve well, not for earthly recognition, but for the joy of serving You.  Lord, give them a perspective that holds eternity close and this temporary world loosely.  May they have a strong assurance in their heart and mind that living for You is the most valuable thing they could do, far exceeding anything they could ever accomplish or win in this life.  Lord, help them remain faithful to You.  In Jesus name, amen.”