Dillon Community Church

As a father, I love to give gifts to my children. So as Christmas fast approaches, I am growing more and more eager for December 25^th to arrive. This year, along with thoughts of what gifts to give, I find myself asking what I can give my children that will build into their character and help them as they mature into adults. As they progressively encounter a world that is messy to say the least, how can I build strength into them so that they can be solid and secure in who they are?

I was talking this over with my wife, and she gave me a great metaphor which I have found wonderfully helpful. If our child were a lake, she said, then we would want several tributaries of strength flowing into them. At this point in the conversation, I began thinking of the 5 love languages. If you don’t know them, they are (1) Words of affirmation (2) Quality time (3) Physical touch (4) Acts of service and (5) Receiving gifts. Each of these categories are tributaries to my children’s hearts; five different ways I can build into the strength of my child’s character.

If my children (and I could include my wife, my family, my friends, and those the Lord brings into my life) know from several different streams that there is one person at least who loves, supports and celebrates who they are; one person at least who is a place of safety and strength, they are much more likely to stand taller, make better decisions, and ultimately grow toward the Lord who is the source of all love. We have the ability to love because the Lord first loved us.

So, if we as human parents, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, relatives and friends can give those whom the Lord has placed in our little spheres of influence a taste of the waters of Love, they will most certainly find the source from which it came. As Paul summed it up in his epistle to the Ephesians, “Love never fails.”

Rob Schmidt, pastor