The Stories We Tell

Everyone's Got Something To Share

What is the best story your mom or dad ever told you about their life?

As a dad, I love to tell stories about how hard my life wascompared to how easy my kids have it. I’ve told them how I actually hadto get up to change the channel on the TV, and how I had to wait for twominutes for my phone to dial in to the internet. My kids have heard storiesabout the times I almost died drowning in a pool or in a lake. They’veheard about my finest moments, and my lowest moments.Story is a powerful way to help generations learn about their ancestors.As much as we love to tell the stories of our life to our children andgrandchildren, I wonder how many of us have told the story of God in ourlife to our children and grandchildren?

Psalm 78:4 says: “… tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds ofthe Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”

In this edition of SEVEN, we’re seeking to celebrate the gift ofgenerations—but first, I want to lay the foundation by suggesting that thegreatest gift we can give, and the greatest gift we are commanded to give,is to tell our children and grandchildren the stories of the work of God inour lives.

Psalm 78:5 goes further to clarify what we are actually to tell: God hasgiven us a testimony and God has appointed a law. In other words, we areto teach the next generations of our own families our own sinfulness, howJesus has changed our life, and what it looks like to follow Jesus every day.Here are some simple steps to help you tell those stories:Do it naturally in everyday conversation—don’t make a big productionout of it. Every other story you tell just happens in the context of every daylife, so make your God stories the same.

Always be ready to be honest about your own sin and failures—andhow the grace of God has impacted you in the middle of that.

Think about stories of when you experienced God work a miracle ormoments when He provided in simple ways.

In every discussion and in every problem your children or family faces,talk about what it might look like to respond in a way that shows howmuch you love and want to follow Jesus.

As a father, my greatest desire is that future generations of my familywill walk with God. Psalm 78:7 tells us why we need to tell the stories ofGod—“so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the worksof God, but keep his commandments.”

Men, what are the stories your children and grandchildren willremember you telling?

KIRK GILES is the president of Promise Keepers Canada. However, his most important roles as a man are husband to Shannon and father to Carter, Joshua, Sydney and Samuel.