What is the most important value to instill in our youth? How do they learn it? Why do they need it? less sadness, confusion and violence in the world. ⏤ Vol 2, Ch 8

I recently was asked a very good question in a group of writer friends.

"What one value would you like to instill in the upcoming generation of kids?" Jonathan H.

The comments were very valid and thought through. They were really good comments. Things like love, humility, empathy, responsibility, honesty, self-sufficiency, even compassion and vulnerability. The list went on. Really good answers to a really good question.

But I was caught off guard at how quickly I wrote what God had shown me years ago.
It was just as true then as it is now.

I come by the answer honestly out of shear terror. Why? Because as a single mom, I myself sought the one thing that could help me maneuver life through the pitfalls of that harrowing experience of single parenting.

What was revealed to me?

Here is the story and the ending. It all began when I was in tears...

(a little backstory)

Single again with three kids, I was in way over my head. I couldn't provide all of the care for my kids that I needed to provide. I remember dropping on my knees and crying on the side of my bed. " God, give me a God answer. How can I help them? I don't  know how to raise them. I don't know how to be a mom, much less a single mom. And a single mom to three kids! I am overwhelmed. I am so lost. God, give me an answer. What do I do?"

I got no answer. I cried myself to sleep that night.

Later...

It was at the end of a very long day. I had one of a thousand situations that had put me in my prayer chair. One of my children was pushing my buttons and AGAIN I didn't know what to do.

Yes, one of my kids had pushed me beyond my limits. I had stopped everything and sent them all to bed. This had been my parents' answer to all problems - until they calmed down we were always sent to our beds. Dad would never discipline us until he had calmed down. (A very good thing - don't you think? I digress.)

So, sending all three of them to bed, I proceeded to try to calm down. It was already near bedtime, so they all fell asleep and by the time my mad was over, I found three little darlings snuggled in bed. Yes, snuggled with their precious heads on their pillows and their faces looking like cherubs. I didn't have the heart to wake them.

Walking back to the living room, I sat in my prayer chair and asked God once again for help. Opening my Bible, Solomon's story popped out before me.

Let's just take a moment and look at 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 NLT

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"That night God appeared to Solomon and said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you."
Solomon replied to God, "You showed faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in this place.
O LORD God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth!
Give me wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could properly govern this great people of yours?"

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Think about that for just a few seconds. Solomon, given the opportunity to request and be given anything in the world,  requests to have WISDOM.

He asks for wisdom.
Wisdom: the thing that Solomon asked God to give him when he became king.

I nearly lost my breath! God was answering my request.
He was telling me what to ask for.

 
Now back to the story of me in my prayer chair.
So, let me continue with the Bible story now. Remember Solomon had been asked by God to make a request for anything he wanted to be given and Solomon had requested wisdom. Why? Because he had been given the task to govern God's great people.

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God said to Solomon, "Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested..."

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Seeing the connection between the raising of my three children (God's gifts and precious beings) was just like Solomon being put in the situation to govern God's people.

I stopped then and there, single mom, scared out of my wits, and asked God for wisdom to raise my children. I have never been sorry that was my request.

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My children are older now, with spouses and children of their own.

The one thing I believe they need more than anything else to raise those grand kids of mine:

WISDOM.

And they have much. It was instilled in them as I learned how to lean on God and ask for wisdom for all sorts of situations, arguments, celebrations and losses. They watched and learned.

Wisdom. Wisdom is the one thing that is needed for every person in every generation.
If more kids were instilled with wisdom the world would not be such a traumatic explosion.

So, if you ask me, what parents need is wisdom. And they need to share with their children that they are asking for wisdom from God. And that He is guiding them.

Today my oldest is 40 and a firefighter, my daughter a chiropractor, and my son a chaplain.
They are from a single parent family. They were told by me numerous times that I would need to get wisdom from God over how to handle certain things. And as I have watched their lives, they have shown wisdom, and especially now as they are now raising their own.

Statistically, they could have been anything but the good godly citizens that they are.
I praise God daily for giving me this Solomon story in 2 Chronicles and showing me that I needed to ask for WISDOM!

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What do I believe we should try to instill in our next generation? WISDOM.

How do we instill that? By seeking and asking God for it as parents and grandparents.

Do you agree or disagree that WISDOM is a needed value to be instilled in the next generation? Share your comments below.

Still asking God for WISDOM in this daily walk with Him.
Robyn & Biff Cox
RR&BC, LLC ©

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