Don't Betray the Children

Last night's Superbowl really was depressing - but I learned a good lesson from it - how to be a better Dad - and a more mature Christian.

My 9-year-old son Luke watches everything I do during the game - he scopes my mood. If I'm nervous, he's nervous. If I'm confident, he's confident. If I'm upset at the end - he's upset at the end. So I reminded myself of one of my favorite verses. It's Psalm 73:15 "If I had said, 'I will speak thus,' I would have betrayed Your children."

The psalmist had been going through a period of struggling with the 'success' of man versus the 'failure' of spending a life devoted to God (from man's perspective). Note: this is a great psalm against the prosperity gospel. But he was wise enough not to voice all of these doubts out loud - knowing that in doing so, he would have been causing the younger believers to begin to have doubts. He would have betrayed the children - God's children.

Doubts and questions are common - and we should work through them. But be very careful - we shouldn't be taking down the weaker brothers in the process. They're watching us closely. We don't always have to voice everything we're going through. We don't always have to 'speak thus.'

So I told Luke I was okay with them losing - and it really eased his little mind. And guess what - it eased mine as well. God has an amazing tendency to lift you up when you look out for the younger believers.

But man - if only Asante Samuel had made that interception . . . . . .