WHAT MATTERS?
Most of the people who seek money or earthly accolades are, in reality, looking for happiness.
What really matters most when it comes to happiness, though, is usually a good marriage and good children — not great wealth. The ability to provide the basic needs for your children is important, but many poor people find happiness, and many rich people find none. It is not money that brings happiness. Happiness is internal, not external.
Dad and Mom
What is it that really does matter? What really matters is a dad and a mom in the home. God designed the home with the father and the mother — the foundation of the family. Teach this principle to your children, in your Sunday school classes, and talk about it with dating couples under your influence. A strong, well-planned marriage will go far in bringing a lifetime of happiness. When God gave the “first commandment with promise” it was to honor your father and mother. Both parents are expected to be in the home influencing the children.
Church
What else really matters? A good church and Sunday school where children are taught the ways of the Lord.
Isaiah 54:13 “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”
Psalm 144:15 “Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.”
Your child's soccer ability will not make a happy home, but bringing up that child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord will.
School and Friends
What really matters when we consider what makes a happy home? The school in which our children grow up, the teachers, the textbooks, the instruction in morality, and the proper behavior toward authority are what really matter in the life of a child and in seeking a happy home and blessed life.
What is it that really matters? It is not the fancy shoes or the expensive clothing. It is something eternal and ordained of God. A dad and mom, a church, and a good school that honors God and the Bible, and supports the values of mother and father are essentials when it comes to happiness.
Of course, controlling the influences in a child's life like television, internet, phones, and all cyber influences also matters. Friends and social life likewise matter. If a child has a mother and father, a good church, and a good school, these three elements will dominate all of his decisions.
A godly father and mother, a godly church, Sunday school, and youth department, as well as godly teachers in a godly school with curriculum and a social life that are biblical and decent, are the components that really matter.
Throw out your concerns over your child having a car when he turns sixteen. Ignore the world’s demands to give your child a college scholarship to some university. The fundamentals that matter are the influences that honor God and these factors will bring long-term happiness.
2 Chronicles 26:5 “…as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
Parents, seek the Lord; seek His influence in every area of your life, and God will take care of the desired happiness.
Pastor