Be intentional

Virtue seems to have become old-fashioned. It’s rarely talked about or even mentioned these days. I hear and see the fire and fury over the controversial issues surrounding the reproductive health, yet I hear very little about abstinence and right parenting.

Teenage pregnancy in our country is now No. 2 in all of Southeast Asia. We hear the statistics, shake our heads, and go about our day.

Teenage smoking is now No. 1 in Southeast Asia. We hear the statistics and shake our heads again, maybe even cluck our tongues. Then we go about our day.

We watch the news and see images of people stabbed, beaten and even blown up, and we go “Tsk, tsk…” but shrug it off after a while because we’ve become desensitized by all the corruption and violence happening all around us.

This is not good.

Parents, we can’t just watch and listen to bad news and do nothing. We have to be intentional with our kids.

I was deep in conversation with a diplomat of our country one time. She said the one-child policy in China and Asia’s preference to having sons rather than daughters have created such a great imbalance in the gender ratio in the region. This has actually reinforced human trafficking. Upon hearing just how very real human trafficking is, my mind began to spin at hyper-speed. My daughters are very independent, and with cheaper fares available these days, I texted them never to leave the country and travel on their own without our company. I had to be intentional.

This is why I spend a great deal of time talking to my kids – letting them know about the reality of human trafficking, how people take advantage of each other and the many evils happening in society, and encouraging them to pray and be wise at all times.

Our children have a moral will of their own, just like you and me. God has implanted this in us. But living in these times takes more than moral will. We all need to have practical wisdom as well.

What is practical wisdom? Well, Aristotle says, “Practical wisdom is the combination of moral will and moral skill.”

You and I need to be wise parents. Our kids need to be wise in making life decisions. We need to pray to God for this wisdom.

One doesn’t need to be brilliant to be wise, but brilliance is dangerous without wisdom. Wisdom comes with experience. A wise person is made, not born.

But experience often comes with hurts and pains as well, and we want to keep our kids from those, especially when they’re unnecessary. This is why parents should not tire of constantly teaching, training and equipping their kids to be wise. And praying for them too!

My kids are not exactly young anymore. They’re already adults, but they still live in my house, under my protection. I’m their dad, and so I have to be intentional in protecting them.

Be intentional. Education is important, knowledge is power, but without parents training their kids in godly wisdom, everything becomes useless.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the Bible says. Encourage your kids to develop their spiritual life and to keep the company of people who love the Lord too. This increases their wisdom many fold.

Be intentional. We just can’t afford not to.

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