ICS Daily Devotions
Help Your Children Build the Right Identity
Colossians 3:8-11 (NKJV) But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
If you are a parent, have you ever wondered how you are doing with helping your children build their identity? There was a high-achieving student who could not handle being relegated from first to second place when he was overtaken by someone else because he had associated and identified himself to be the first. As a result, he experienced an identity crisis and subsequently plunged into depression.
As parents, we need to know that there are people out there who care more about our children’s grades than their feelings, but how about us? Your scolding the night before a test can actually affect their sleep, their concentration the next day, and even make them feverish. Unbeknownst to us, they may be dealing with many challenges of their own including cyber-bullying, and if we only care about their academic results and not their overall wellbeing and mental health, the message you are indirectly giving your children is that their results are more important than themselves as a person. Many children as young as 11 years old are experiencing depression these days. What they need more than anything is love, affirmation, and hugs. We as parents need to help our children to build their identity in Christ and sow unconditional love into them instead of making feel worthless.
For example, there is a lot of expectation for those who have graduated from top universities. Accustomed to receiving praises and admiration from peers and parents, they are expected to be the elites of society. Unfortunately, if they have not achieved as much as their peers say 15 years after graduation, they may feel small and insignificant, and if their business start-ups have failed because of the pandemic, they may possibly slip into depression because they have lost their identity which was based on their academic achievements and career which have failed them. Feeling worthless, they may take it out on their spouse and children at home.
When we have our identity in our “old man” and identify ourselves with our “doing” instead of being in Christ, that is what happens when this identity is shaken. Therefore, while it’s not too late, let us help our children to build their identity in Christ which is unshakable.
Sermon Series: He Came to Give You a New Identity
