Raising World Changers!

"I just want to leave this world a better place than I found it," the elderly man explained.  It sounded so noble. 

"What do you mean, leave this world better?  How would you do that?" the young woman asked him, as she continued wrapping the bandage around his leg.

Her question caught him by surprise and he didn't quite know how to respond.  He pretended to wince at the pain as she checked the wound lower on the same leg, but he felt no pain.  He was just buying time.

The conversation continued as the man tried to explain how to leave the world a better place without bringing God or the Bible into the picture.  You see, he didn't believe in God.  But every suggestion he made seemed to come back to the Bible. 

Move to another scene....

A lovely young woman has a baby on her hip, her pink shirt stained with grape juice that her toddler accidentally spilled on her.  Her six year old son is still asleep.  She looks at the bright yellow clock on her kitchen wall and heaves a big sigh.  They were supposed to start phonics fifteen minutes ago.  She is not thinking about changing the world.  She is just thinking about getting school done, keeping the baby happy, and making sure her toddler doesn't destroy her beautiful, albeit messy, home.  Yet, it is this woman's destiny to raise world-changers. 

Can we change the world?  Certainly, not apart from God or the principles in His Word. But we are the people of God, commissioned by Jesus Christ to transform this world by the power of God. We have the promises of God. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have a mandate from God. And we have a choice. We can either walk in the call of God on our life, or we can let someone else do what God has called us to do.

Since my oldest daughter was born in 1986, my husband has put our children to bed every night. He lays his hands on their heads and prays over them and sings this song to them every night.

 

You are my hiding place.
     You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance.
     Whenever I am afraid I will trust in you.
     I will trust in you.
     Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of the Lord.

(author of song unknown but taken directly from Psalms.)

One thing that Mike prays over our children every night is that they will be world changers. Is it any wonder that when Julianna wrote her college admission essay, she talked about wanting to be a world changer. After a childhood of her father praying that vision over her, it was now in her own heart.

There are many ways to change the world with the power of God. We can discover a cure for cancer. We can build a beautiful building. We can paint a glorious masterpiece. We can compose a beautiful worship song that is sung around the world. Most of us will change the world by impacting the lives of those around us, drawing them closer to God. Jesus mentored 12 men and those 12 men turned the known world upside-down. 

Our children will become world changers if they believe they can be world changers. The initial step we need to take as parents is to impart a vision and a desire to be a world changer in their hearts. We don't have to use the term "world changer." You might pray over your child every day, "Lord use this young women in a mighty way to impact the world with the Gospel." The terminology is not as important as the vision.

There is a cry in the human heart to belong to something bigger than the humdrum daily affairs of life. We want our life to count for eternity. We want it to matter that we have lived. When we call our children to a big vision for their life, it will not overwhelm them, rather it will excite them.

Imparting the vision to be a world changer means communicating to your child every single day that God can use them to change the world. You cannot tell them this too often. We also need to pray everyday that God will use our children to change the world. God hears our prayers and he answers them.

There are two mandates in scripture. One in Genesis and one in Matthew 28. We need to instruct our children about these mandates so that they can obey them for all of their days.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." - Genesis 1:28

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them and all their descendants the creation mandate. Since we are descendants of Adam and Eve this mandate applies to us too. We are to subdue the earth and rule over it. To rule well, we must have knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. This requires academic and spiritual learning on our part. Subduing the earth is a very broad commission which includes everything from perfecting open heart surgery to building a sturdy bridge. All the great accomplishments of mankind fall under this commission, from art masterpieces to scientific discoveries. When children understand that these tasks are not things they do to make themselves feel fulfilled but ways to honor God it will change their perspective forever.

"Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you even to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:16-20

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He gave His disciples the Great Commission. This mandate falls to us as well as His disciples. The Great Commission is a call to make disciples, not converts. The world is full of people who have made "a decision" for Christ. What we are called to is to make disciples, to build His church, and to entrust truth to reliable men and women who will pass it on to others.

When we homeschool in the authority of God with a foundation of the Bible, we are fulfilling this Great Commission. We lead our little ones to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Then we instruct them how to live in order to please God. We teach our children to love their Heavenly Father and all the people in their world. We teach them to witness and to serve the needy. As a family we are plugged into a local church where we build others up to maturity, as they build us up to maturity. Our homes are welcome centers where the weary are refreshed and memories are made. We enjoy the goodness of God as a family!

We need to tell our children that in homeschooling them, we are fulfilling the Great Commission. Memorizing this verse as a family and seeking to obey it together will help to cement this desire in their heart. It is my prayer that all of my children will fulfill the Great Commission with their father and me. We have built close friendships with other families that share this conviction. Together we are linking arms and believe with all our heart that we can be world changers!