Our goal should not be good kids

I was listening to The Heidi St. John podcast the other day, and they said something really profound: The goal should not be to have good kids. Our goal should be to have godly kids.

Definitions please

I think godly kids are inherently good, but really, it all depends on definitions. Godly has a simple definition. According to Merriam-Webster online, godly means “pious, devout.” Good is a bit more nebulous. Going back to Merriam-Webster online, good has several meanings. To name a few, good (as an adjective) can mean “agreeable, pleasant” or “kind, benevolent.” Clearly they’re both desirable characteristics, but LORD have mercy, we need more devotion to the LORD right now, rather than more agreeableness or kindness.

What exactly do you mean by that?

What I mean by that is that we already have many agreeable and kind people in this world. Many of these same people are those who have a bleeding heart for confused and indoctrinated children as well as mothers who want to murder their babies (among other things). Many people who support far Left ideology are “kind” people, who just want to help the poor and marginalized. But they’re far from being godly.

We need godly men and women who truly love the LORD, as well as love and live out His Word. This world can be confusing with a variety of ideologies telling us conflicting ideas of what is the kind thing to do. In order to navigate the culture, they need the firm understanding and grounding of the Word of God for discernment and direction.

The Joe Rogan podcast

I was listening the other day to Joe Rogan interviewing Jillian Michaels. Neither are Christians, but it’s always interesting to listen to some of the conversations on Rogan’s podcast. At one point, Michaels was talking about when she tried to talk to people about her change of perspective (which, shockingly, has become more conservative). Michaels has courageously defended the right of young children to remain children and not be indoctrinated by LGBTQ ideology (heavy emphasis on the “T” obviously). All the while, being married to her wife.

It was amazing to me how completely unaware they were of the hypocrisy of that position. Both Rogan and Michaels drew the line at children – which I agree. However, they did not recognize the fact that this “line” was actually based on Biblical Truth. Which, when taken to its logical conclusion, would also condemn Michaels’ relationship and Rogan’s convictions on supporting gay marriage.

I actually really appreciate how both Rogan and Michaels have been open to dialoguing with people from a variety of perspectives. I’m so thankful they’ve landed on sanity and truth! Anyone advocating to protect children from this incredible harmful ideology is great! And to be frank, considering how few churches are openly speaking out, I’d say we should embrace all the help we can get especially with those with such influential platforms.

However, they still don’t get it. They are using the parts of Truth that fit their narrative, while disregarding what may be inconvenient or uncomfortable. The madness of accepting a few conservative values while not others based on nothing else but preferences or personal/subjective convictions is not intellectually honest.

Jesus and God’s Word

That’s why we need something outside of ourselves to ground us to know what’s right and wrong – objective Truth. Not just good ideas, but godly ones. We don’t get to define marriage. God has already done that. We don’t get to decide when life begins. The LORD had that covered quite a while back. He also decided what are men and women. He got that privilege since, you know, He created them from the start that way (Genesis 1:27; 5:2).

Fellow Mama at the playground

Recently I was talking to another mama on the playground. We somehow got started talking about God, which I could tell, left a bad taste in her mouth. I don’t blame her – she’s Ukrainian and associates religion with essentially a good luck charm. And the charm didn’t work like she expected it.

At one point in the conversation, she concluded, “Well, I think everyone should be able to just follow their own heart.” I know she thought that would be the end of the conversation. Slam dunk statement. However, I pointed out to her that our hearts are all desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). I reminded her how often people have destroyed their families and used the excuse that they were just “following their heart” as they pursued another relationship outside of their marriage. Does that sound like we should always follow our hearts?

She thought for a minute and responded with, “Well, not everyone has a good heart.” I persisted that actually, we ALL have wicked hearts. I’m not sure if she agreed, but I’m thankful I had the chance to give her something to chew on.

Good is not good enough

I tell that story to show how my playground friend is like most of the world (and like Rogan and Michaels). Right, Left, or Center, when we don’t profess Christ as both LORD and Savior (as well as live it out!), most of us think we’re all pretty good. And we can discern what is best for ourselves and others.

However, we forget that the standard isn’t other people. The standard is perfection. And we all fail miserably. That’s why we need Someone outside of ourselves, a higher Being Who does not struggle with sin. We need God and His Word. Without Him, we have no way of discerning not just what is right and wrong, but what is best.

Our society doesn’t need any more people that are good. We need more godly men and women who will stand for His Truth no matter the pushback. Jesus, give us strength and conviction to teach our children and hold them accountable. And help us to ourselves set a godly example for them to follow.

All for our good and His glory.