Thoughts, Talks, and Prayers

As a teacher, I know it is my job to give a gift to every child in my class.  I am responsible to give them knowledge.  However, as a Christian teacher and a parent, I take my responsibility two steps further.  Every person has knowledge.  We all know something.  It is debatable whether or not what we know is actually worth anything to the world.  A man knowing every football stat for the NFL is of absolutely no worth to me.  But, sharing those stats with a teenage boy may motivate him to take better care of himself or to strive for an accomplishment.

That is why I take the teaching in Proverbs and a reminder that we adults have the ultimate gift to give our kids.  There is a simple order about gathering information and allowing it to affect our lives.  That order is “Get knowledge, with knowledge get understanding, and with understanding get wisdom.”

In this day and age, it isn’t difficult to get knowledge.  You can use a search engine and find just about anything on any subject.  The catch is, most of the Internet doesn’t help you turn that knowledge into understanding.  As adults facing a problem, many use the phrase “help me understand”.  Whether that phrase ends with “what you are saying” or “where you are coming from” it doesn’t really matter.  The point is the same.  We did not learn as children how to really put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Are we teaching that ability to our kids?  Are we giving them the gift of understanding?  Which way does the conversation go in your house?

“Don’t do that!”

“Why?”

“Because I said so!”

or

“Don’t do that!”

“Why?”

“That pan is full of boiling water.  If you spill it, what would happen?”

“I would get burned.”

“Would getting burned hurt?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s why I said don’t do love.  I love you too much to see you get hurt.”

We just took them from the knowledge of “I have to obey” to the understanding of “Mom (or dad) loves me.  They said no because they don’t want me hurt.  I need to obey so I can stay safe.”

That is a gift which they will carry the rest of their lives.  Giving understanding in addition to simple knowledge will turn children into adults that think their actions through before they do them.  And, it will help them grow without the physical or emotional scars many of us carry.

When we have knowledge of something, we can use the knowledge and learn understanding.  Once we have understanding, then it can turn into wisdom.  There is a Bible story where King Solomon had two women enter his court.  They both claimed to be the mother of the same child saying the other woman’s child had died in the night.  Solomon ordered that a sword be brought to him.  He would cut the child in half and the women would share the child’s body.  While Solomon’s wisdom was a gift from the Lord, he also had knowledge and understanding with a mother’s love.  He knew the baby’s real mother would do anything to spare the baby’s life.  Why?  Because he knew and understood how much his mother loved him.

That was a gift which, in turn, spared a child’s life.  Give your child knowledge and understanding when they are young.  Get them into a habit of speaking and giving understanding to others.  This gift will come back around to you as they grow up.  Someday, you’ll find yourself sitting next to your teenager or adult child listening as they share a problem and seek your advice (seeking advice is wisdom).  They will come to you willingly and by habit.  And rarely will be the days when you have to go to them and say, “please talk to me and help me understand what is happening.”