Practicing Failure

Check out James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." James goes on to point out that it's important to let these trials take full effect so we can be "mature and complete, not lacking anything." Bottom line? Tough times are actually good for us! I know, I know...that's not EVER something you consider while you're going THROUGH a tough time, but looking back, you can often see how God has made you a stronger person, how He has polished your character, how He has made you more like Him.

Now let's talk about the children growing up in today's world. Are they given opportunities to "face trials of many kinds"? Are they given chances to fail and learn from those failures? Or are they presented with a "cushy" no-fail, everyone's-a-winner kind of environment to grow up in?  Saturday Night Live has a pretty poignant skit called "You Can Do Anything" that spoofs the trend in society to pamper kids, really to their detriment. Take a couple of minutes to check it out...does any of it resonate with you?

How about some cold, hard facts? Everyone is NOT a winner in life. Sometimes you fail. Sometimes you come in second. Sometimes you don't even get recognized.  And sometimes you NOT good at something. That's life! This generation has been dubbed "Generation iY" because they have been trained by the adults in their life that the world revolves around them. That they ARE winners and can do anything!

Now please hear me on this...I'm certainly not saying that words of encouragement are a bad thing. But those encouraging words need to be GENUINE. I love receiving encouragement, but I also know when someone's just saying empty words to flatter me.

Kids need to learn that failure is OK, it's a part of life, and ultimately, you can learn a lot from it.  So how do you handle failure and "trials" in your kids' lives? Do you give them opportunities to "practice" failure and teach them through that process?