Proverbs 23:25

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about how we celebrate our children’s accomplishments … perhaps, in the wrong way:

Proverbs 23:25 (ESV)

Let your father and mother be glad;

let her who bore you rejoice.

What does your mom and dad think of how you live?   Or, what would they think if they were still around (should they be gone)?   That might seem like a foolish question, or one of little importance, but according to the above proverb it is not.  Solomon, teaching us wisdom and giving wise counsel, tells us that we ought to strive to live a righteous life and thereby giving our parents something to rejoice over and to be glad about.    The problem may be that parents are more excited about how many goals we scored in the last game or what a child’s GPA or ACT score was.  They might rejoice more in the full scholarship their child received so that they don't have to sacrifice and pay college tuition.   As parents, do we rejoice in the fact that our children are pursing righteous behavior?  Do they care that parents care about such a pursuit?   A mother should be more concerned about our steps with Christ than our first steps.   A father should be more  concerned about how we work for God than whether we have a job to work.   The proverb above is about making sure we please God and when we do, we will please parents who love God.  The proverb, however, is as much about how the focus of the parent as it is the walk of the child.