SURPRISE! Christmas is my very favorite day of the year; however, the calendar crawled quickly past that day, and now we are in the New Year of 2020. Now Valentine’s Day is arriving next week. Does time seem to become faster? If that is so, as parents, we should share valuable lessons with our children right now!
So what is the ELF project? Please take the thought of a small person with pointed ears out of your mind. This has nothing to do with the special Christmas season, but everything to do with a promise you probably made. That was to bring your children up to follow God, when you dedicated them to the Lord.
Keep this thought in mind! The redeeming quality of an ELF is the acronym for Eternal Life Friend.
What traits should we look for in an Eternal Life Friend? We need to take a long hard look at our friends. Which friends have pointed us toward a life with Jesus? Which direct us down a different path?
Now look at your children. Do they have Eternal Life Friends who lift them up, or friends who will take them down the wrong path?
During the school years of your children’s life, friends play a very important role. We as parents really need to help them discern the difference between good and bad friends. Our children just want friends, but where will that friendship lead? Will it build your child up to be a better person, or bring them down to a lessor person>
Please pray and talk with your kids about their friends. Ask them what they think makes a good frience, and compare that with what God would want for them. Evaluating our current friends, and seeking great new friends, is such a difficult thing for any of us to do. But, a friendship rescue might be required.
Any time of the year is a good time to start an ELF project.
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Proverbs 27:17 NLT
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17 NLT
The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Proverbs 9:10 NLT
