If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love,
I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love,
I gain nothing.*
Imagine if this were the philosophy with which you parent. What would be different? How would you be different?
If she can speak in complete sentences and read before Kindergarten but doesn't know how to treat others,
her words are just noise.
If you enroll him in Kumon, he excels in math and can do long division in his head, but he's selfish,
he will get nowhere.
If you take them to travel the world but don't teach them to give to those who are hurting,
they haven't learned anything.
If she gets into college but she doesn't know that God created her and she's special,
it's meaningless.
If I give her all the world has to offer but don't teach her to love people because Jesus loves her,
I've given her nothing.
And that means I've failed.
We all have.
So teach them. Please. Teach them that
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.*
Love and people are the only things that last forever. So love people.
*1 Corinthians 13
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