Alright Mom and Dad, so today we’re talking about the lie or the misconception of “Jesus doesn’t want me.” Whether or not you’ve felt this before, but I’m willing to bet you have (all of us have), I guarantee your kids have felt this or are feeling this. Especially in the middle school years when their life is being flipped upside down. They’re going to have this thought or this feeling that “I’m not good enough.”
So the lies that we typically fall into, fall in that category of “I’m not good enough.” “I’ve done too much bad stuff.” “He doesn’t want me.” And there’s a little cliche saying, “God doesn’t make trash.” Right? “Jesus doesn’t make trash.” He wants you, He loves you, and it’s our job as parents to relate this to our kids.
Jesus loves you – it’s our job as parents to relate this to our kids
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to relate to kids and the way that Jesus related to us all through Scripture was using parables or analogies. I have a couple of analogies that I’d like to share with you.
One of them is the analogy of a ladder and a three story building. This is a building you can’t climb, right? You want to get to the top of this building. So you see the ladder and you see your destination. But you tell yourself, “No, I’m not going to use that ladder until I get to the roof. Then I’ll use the ladder.” And that doesn’t make any sense at all, right? Anyone would tell you to use the ladder, since that’s how you’re going to reach your goal. Right? Well, that’s what Jesus is for us. He is the ladder. He’s going to help us reach our goal. If we say, “I’m not good enough for Him. I’ll ask for His help when I get there.” That doesn’t make any sense. We ask for His help so that we can get there.
Jesus wants to help us reach our goal – we need to ask for His help
There’s another analogy that I really like, and it gets to the dirtiness and grittiness of sin. So you have this dog, and he loves his ball. You’ve just thrown the ball for him and he brings it back all wet and slobbery. We’ve all had those dogs that just won’t let go of the ball. No matter what you do, you try to pry it out of their mouth and they’re not letting go. But then you start to pet him, scratch his belly, and eventually he’ll forget about the ball and drop it.
So in this analogy, the way that this works with us, is that we come to Jesus with our mess and our slobbery wet ball. He doesn’t try to yank it out of our face. He just loves on us until we look up and the ball is gone. That’s how Jesus wants to work in your life, that’s how he wants to work in your son or daughter’s life. To rid them of whatever it is that’s keeping them from him. He is gentle and He’s going to work with us get rid of whatever it is we have. So when we say, “Jesus, we’re not good enough for you” He says in return, “Come as you are.” Come with that sin in your hand and grab His hand with the other one and He’ll lead you where He wants you to go.
[tweetthis]When we say, “Jesus, I’m not good enough for you,” He says in return, “Come as you are.” #loved #worthy[/tweetthis]
Jesus loves you just as you are. It doesn’t matter what you do. You don’t achieve His love or earn His love. He loves you just as you are, so between now and the next week I want you to spend some time just thinking about that. What is my dirty, wet, sloppy ball that I need to come to Jesus with? How can I let Him love me into letting that go?