How to Get Your Child to Burn With Passion, THE RIGHT WAY

This weekend my family visited Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. The pastor was on his second sermon in a series called “Meant To Be” which was designed to talk about love, marriage and sex. He discussed AT LENGTH HOW PASSION CAN BURN YOU. And I agree.

Without being a Monday morning quarterback, because the sermon was really good…

And you can find it on their app or on www.elevationnetwork.com …

I wanted to add one small piece to the puzzle that pastor did not mention.

You see, passion is an emotion that God gives us for good. But like anything, it can also be used against us and become quite destructive. Now, youth, teens, adolescents…these young people all have great passion within them. It’s just that often times that passion gets misplaced and then they get burned. Many times repeatedly. It is heartbreaking to watch.

But as a parent, I have found that there is one way to help put that passion in it’s right place and hopefully bypass lots of heartache…

Moms and dads, you must be all about finding your child’s purpose and keeping them focused on it. OF COURSE teaching them about Jesus is a foregone conclusion in my book…continually reminding them to pray for their spouse and to stay pure…being careful what they watch and listen to…yes, yes, yes all these are vital as well…but here is the point:

We HAVE passion. We HAVE desires. These must be focused and trained on the right things or else by default your child will just focus on gaining approval from the opposite sex and then it is only a matter of time before they climb up and fall down Heartbreak Hill.

So pray about their purpose. Watch carefully for their giftedness or talent in certain areas. Pay attention to idiosyncrasies that when lined up with their strengths begin to take on the form of a specific calling. Look for their areas of continued interest and begin to develop them in the things they love and enjoy. Keep a legal pad with their name on it and write it all down. Soon, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, these things will fit together to give you a picture of their purpose. And when you help them run full speed ahead into that calling, you will bypass Heartbreak Hill.

Because the question is not, “How can we keep them from burning with passion?”

But “What passion should they be burning up with?” And when you answer THAT, and run that race with them, you will leave heartbreak in the dust.