1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
This past week I had a teachable moment come up with my young son. He is growing up fast and the transition from boyhood to adulthood is challenging for him just like it has been for all of us. When I told him about the new roles and responsibilities he would be expected to be held to as a new teenager, his response came from the heart, “Dad, growing up is so hard at times. Sometimes I just want to be a boy.”
My first thought was, “Who doesn’t want to be small at times?” Yet I refrained myself from saying those thoughts and instead just held my son tightly. With some quite bedtime prayers and a few more kisses, I tucked him in bed and let him drift off to sleep.
The next day, I continued to think about what my son had said about it being hard to grow up. The longer I thought about it, the more I began to agree with him on some very important points. There are many things that are easy in life. Most often though, easy doesn’t always mean best. Alternatively there are many things that are hard in life. Most often, I have found hard can often yield the best outcomes. What do I mean?
The following list came to me over a quick lunch break at work the following day. I scribbled down my thoughts and words in a notebook and took them home. The next morning as I ate breakfast with my son, I pulled out my list called “Easy vs Hard” and read it to him. It struck a cord within his young mind and we agreed, many of the best things in life are hard to accomplish not easy.
Easy ways and short cuts can most often lead us towards temporary achievements that have little lasting value. On the other hand, many of life’s most precious memories and greatest stories come from times of hard work labored over months, years and even seasons of life.
See if this list encourages you to labor through times of hard work to achieve the stories that will have lasting value in your life. I know it is doing a work in the lives of my son and myself. We are agreeing together to work hard throughout life and bypass the easy. To move from the childish and strive to be men . . . together.
Easy vs. Hard
It’s easy to be little. It’s hard to be big.
It’s easy to be small. It’s hard to grow up.
It’s easy to start. It’s hard to finish.
It’s easy to guess. It’s hard to plan.
It’s easy to get by. It’s hard to excel.
It’s easy to consider. It’s hard to commit.
It’s easy to promise. It’s hard to follow through.
It’s easy to make excuses. It’s hard to take responsibility.
It’s easy to show up. It’s hard to be present.
It’s easy to listen. It’s hard to remember.
It’s easy to talk. It’s hard to communicate.
It’s easy to hear. It’s hard to understand.
It’s easy to react. It’s hard to consider.
It’s easy to receive. It’s hard to give.
It’s easy to judge. It’s hard to empathize.
It’s easy to be bitter. It’s hard to forgive.
It’s easy to be frustrated. It’s hard to be joyful.
It’s easy to be offended. It’s hard to take correction.
It’s easy to be right. It’s hard to be gracious.
It’s easy to be friendly. It’s hard to be a friend.
It’s easy to be a boy. It’s hard to be a man.
Written by:
D. Mike Collins
Habakkuk 2:4 “The Just shall live by faith.”