3 Gifts to Give Your Children

A Community Worth Having, a Standard Worth Achieving, a Faith Worth Sharing

Scripture References

• Matthew 7:11
• Deuteronomy 6:4
• Proverbs 13:20

Overview

Every loving parent wants to give their children “the very best,” yet our best intentions can backfire. Craig Groeschel showed how easy-give parenting breeds entitlement, insecurity, and bondage, then contrasted it with God’s call from Deuteronomy 6: raise children who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and strength. The message moved from three common mistakes to three life-giving gifts: a Christ-centered community, a God-honoring standard, and a faith so real it must be shared.

Context

Craig opened with humorous stories about lowering parenting standards with each additional child (the pacifier saga) to prove how fatigue nudges parents toward convenience over intentionality.

Main Points

1. When Giving Hurts

Good intentions can sabotage readiness for adulthood and faithfulness to God.

• Give them things they didn’t earn
  • Grocery-store breakdowns and participation trophies train entitlement.

  • “One of the best things we can do is give our children the blessing of earning the blessings.”

• Give them praise they don’t deserve
  • Cheap praise (“you’re the smartest!”) creates anxiety; process-based praise builds confidence.
  • Focus on effort and God-honoring character, not superlatives.
• Give them freedoms they can’t handle
  • Over-protective about crossing the street, yet hand over unrestricted smartphones.
  • Real freedom should expand only as responsibility and trustworthiness grow.

2. Three Gifts That Build Lifelong Faith

A. A Community Worth Having

• Deuteronomy 6 speaks to Israel—the whole community—not isolated households.
• OT families included up to 80 relatives and workers; faith was communal.
• Who and what you expose your child to shapes who they become.
• Practical strategies: LifeKids, Switch, youth camps, mission trips, choosing teams & life groups by spiritual values.
  • Story: Craig moved his talented soccer-playing son from an elite but unhealthy team to a lower league with godly teammates—spiritual health over athletic prestige.
• Proverbs 13:20 principle: walk with the wise, become wise; run with fools, get in trouble.

B. A Standard Worth Achieving

• Goal: children who love God with “all” their being, not convenient partial devotion.
• OT 12-year-olds memorized Genesis–Deuteronomy; high expectations produce high growth.
• Raise the bar: family YouVersion plans, Scripture memory, sexual integrity, worship-filled playlists, weekly serving.
• Don’t settle for cultural Christianity; call kids to holiness now, not “someday.”

C. A Faith Worth Sharing

• Faith must be firsthand, visible, and constant—talk of God “when you sit, walk, lie down, and get up.”
• Kids possess a “fake detector”; they reject hypocrisy.
• Shift from Jesus-as-accessory to Jesus-as-center.
• Parents lead by repentance as well as success; powerful moments often follow apology and reconciliation.
  • Story: Family vacation meltdown became a setting where adult children prayed, cried, and re-aligned around Christ.

Key Truths

• What feels like generosity can sow entitlement if it bypasses effort.
• Praise the process, not the persona; effort honored rightly builds true confidence.
• Freedom rightly timed is discipleship; freedom too early is a burden.
• Spiritual community is chosen, cultivated, and crucial—kids seldom stand for Christ alone.
• Higher, Christ-focused standards reveal, not restrict, a child’s God-given capacity.
• A lived-in, talked-about, imperfect-but-honest faith is the most compelling legacy parents can pass on.

Response

• Re-evaluate the gifts you give; replace convenience with intentionality.
• Attach rewards to responsibility so children experience the blessing of earning.
• Shift from superlatives to specific, effort-based encouragement.
• Audit your child’s environments; steer them into Christ-centered circles.
• Raise your household’s spiritual bar: Bible reading, service, worship, purity.
• Normalize God-conversation in everyday moments.
• When you fail, own it, repent, and model gospel grace.

Closing

Craig challenged the congregation—parents and non-parents alike—to join in discipling the next generation. By the Spirit’s help, Life.Church will give kids a community worth having, a standard worth achieving, and a faith worth sharing.

“Jesus, we honor You. Help us seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness.”

Prayer

Craig led in two prayers: first, a corporate prayer for Christ-centered lives; second, a salvation prayer for those surrendering to Jesus. He thanked God for grace, asked for wisdom in parenting, and celebrated those made new in Christ.