Carve Your Name

March 8

Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. - Charles H. Spurgeon

Great and mighty men are immortalized with statues and paintings and frescoes that depict their victories and their accomplishments, but few of them have actually carved their names in the hearts of people. That's because so many individuals whose exploits in life are considered 'great' have accomplished their amazing feats through harsh or even ruthless tactics.

Carving ones name on hearts requires far greater skill and patience and evenness of temper than mere advancement in the areas of life's challenges. The Bible tells us that the man who conquers his own spirit is far stronger than the general who conquers a city, Proverbs 16:32. Just so, the individual who carves his name upon the hearts of those around him is guided by a far superior force than the one who merely use those around him to advance himself.

A loving parent is among the individuals who resolutely do the work of rearing their children in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord, according to Ephesians 6:4. These nurturing souls invest themselves in the well-being of their little ones and they do not rest until they are assured that in every circumstance they can work goodness to their children's advantage; in every circumstance they can labor until their children are established in the right path, according to Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

These godly parents will invest their time and energy and faith and love toward the goal of their children's perfect good for time and eternity, thereby carving themselves on the hearts of their progeny. You, Christian parent, must not allow yourself to be dissuaded from guiding your children aright when they are resilient and willful. You cannot allow yourself to be deterred from the right course of godliness and truth when that course is not easily pursued because of the challenges of life or by the corrupting influence of the world around you. You must stay the course until the goal is reached when “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” as plainly declared in Philippians 2:10, 11.