Encouragement or Discouragement

"Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Colossians 3:21)."

The Interception

Tonight, I listened to the a College Football Show on Fox Sports Radio Network. They interviewed Jarrett Lee who is a Red Shirt Freshmen Quarterback for LSU. When the starting QB was injured, he was pressed into service against Auburn. He had a slow start and, with less than 2 minutes to go in the First Half, he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. Auburn was leading 14-3 at Half-Time. However, Lee was able to lead the team from behind to a 26-21 win over Auburn. He threw the winning touchdown pass with just a little more than a minute left.

I found it interesting that when he was asked what his parents said to him after the game, he said the first thing his dad wanted to talk about was the interception he gave up. Lee said his dad is a coach and he wanted to talk in depth about what went wrong on that play. However, he did state his dad was thrilled about his role in the win.

My Desire

For me, I pray that I will always be an encouragement to my son and daughters. At times, I know I haven't been as encouraging as I could have been.

In Col. 3:21, Paul charged the fathers to not "provoke" their children. Other translations translate the Greek word slightly differently, which would insert "exasperate" or "aggravate" in the place of "provoke."

The Amplified Version renders Col. 3:21: "Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]"

Wrestle Time

Tonight my son, Jared, and I had some "wrestle time" on the bed. It was a lot of fun. He loves to try to "cannon ball" into my stomach. He has a lot of tenacity. He is testing his strength, which is healthy. Male bonding is a good thing, even though it comes with a price. At my age, a knee to the stomach isn't any fun. I let him win some of the time, because I don't want him to feel demeaned or abused.

A Fine Line

In athletics, there is a fine line to be walked between encouragement and discouragement. I have seen a lot of parents cross that line in a bad way. They really "break" the spirit of their child. Even in T-Ball and the lower levels of soccer, levels at which score and win-loss records are not even kept, some parents appear to expect way too much out of 6 year-olds. They discuss the games as if Gold Medals are at stake.

My wise wife has said, "When Jared is making a million dollars to play ball, I'll not mind the coach yelling at him. But, until that day comes, I'm not going to stress him out about a minor mistake. It's just a game."

So...

In his Biblical Letter, James said "Life is a vapor." Time moves so rapidly. I pray I will mold the spirit of my children in a loving manner. May I never exasperate, aggravate, frustrate, or break them. They are precious gifts. I won't have them long.

And, by the way, the score at Half-Time doesn't matter.