Life's Not Fair, But It Should Be

When the topic of disciplining children comes up, you no doubt will hear several people agree with this statement: “The world isn’t fair. We have to prepare our children for that reality.” 

Well, that is true. The world isn’t fair. It’s filled with injustice, disease, and oppression.  So what’s wrong with teaching our children this?

The problem is that we are teaching one half of the lesson and not the second.  True, our world is not fair, and they must be prepared for that reality.  However, we must not forget that even though our world isn’t right, it should be.  It should be. It was created to be. Children are dying of disease and starvation in Africa.  Well, that’s just life kids. No! No, not at all!  That isn’t just life. It doesn’t have to be. By teaching our kids only the first half of the lesson, we give them an excuse to let things remain the way they are.  But if we encourage them to see this fallen world as just that, fallen, messed up, and damaged, then we not only prepare them for that reality but we also prepare them to do something about it.  We hand them the keys to a car that doesn’t run correctly and we say if you want this vehicle to run right you have to fix it.  Sure, it will get you from A to B if you leave it as it is.  But you’ll spend a lot of time on the side of the road.   

Our world was meant to be wonderful, peaceful, and free. Our world isn’t right because of sin.  But Jesus died to free our world from sin.  And Jesus gave us the command to tell the whole world about that Good News.  He said that if we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15).  He commanded us to love one another.  We can do our part to bring this world to a place of peace as much as possible until God finally finishes the restoration and creation joins us in the freedom of His Kingdom.

So, instead of saying, “welp, that’s just life. You’ll just have to deal with it,” our children will say, “something isn’t right here, and I need to do whatever I can to make it right.” 

We can’t teach our kids to be satisfied with “the way things are” because they shouldn’t be this way.  The lesson must be that life is this way, but we can do our part to change that every single day.  Make sure you always share both halves of the lesson and your kids will grow to be people who love God, fight for justice, end oppression, and wait patiently for God to restore all things, as He promised.