Pssst…Pass It On!
By Carolyn
Hulliberger
“We're not
keeping this to ourselves,
we're passing it
along to the next generation—
God's fame and
fortune,
the marvelous
things he has done.”
Psalm 78:3-4 (The
Message)
Remember
the game “Telephone”? Everyone would sit
in a circle and one person would start by whispering a sentence one time into
the next person’s ear, and the phrase would get whispered and passed around
until the last person said out loud what they heard. Inevitably, the sentence would get changed
from something like, “I had soup for dinner last night,” to “Stuart stole the
skunk’s spotlight”? With no one to
correct the misunderstanding, the sentence gets murkier with each retelling.
Passing
down our beliefs to the next generation can be like “Telephone.” The listener
is trying desperately to hear what is being said…they must get it right if
there’s any hope of moving the message on correctly. But if the speaker is unclear, too quiet, or
misheard the message herself…or the listener is distracted from the
message….well, the message gets passed on all wrong.
In
Titus chapter 2, Paul speaks about various groups within the church. He instructs, “You must teach what is in
accord with sound doctrine…In everything set them an example by doing what is
good. In your teaching show integrity,
seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned….” (vv. 1, 7-8a).
Ladies,
regardless of your life situation…a teenager, a single lady, a grown woman, a
mother with young kids, an empty nester, an aunt, a grandmother…our lives are
speaking into generations beyond. We
need to take advantage of our opportunities!
One thing that I love about Student Ministry is that our “Women in
Training” are at an age where they’re supposed to ask questions, not have all
the answers. So they ask away! Our younger generations need women of faith
to be available to answer and instruct.
Imagine that the two-year-old in the nursery today will be the young
person who impacts your future child or grandchild for Christ. Or that the
teenager struggling with faith today is guided well by her leaders and called
into full-time ministry down the road. Or that the young mom at her wit’s end
receives help and encouragement to keep bringing her children to church instead
of sleeping in on a Sunday morning …and those kids are the two-year-olds in the
nursery….and so on…
Pssst…Pass
It On!
GOING DEEPER:
1. To whom are you passing your faith on
today?
2. If you
couldn’t think of anyone, pray for God to reveal where He might have you pass
on your faith.
FURTHER READING:
Along
with caring for her husband and two children, Carolyn works as an insurance
representative, serves in Oakwood Church’s Student Ministries with an awesome
group of junior high girls, and is the treasurer for Women’s Ministries.
