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Key Bible Verse: Remember that youth, with a whole life before it, still faces the threat of meaninglessness (Ecclesiastes 11:10). Bonus Reading:2 Corinthians 4:5; 5:9—10

True satisfaction in life is impossible apart from a transcendent cause. It's the only antidote to a sense of futility. Sociologist Ernest Becker identifies three marks of a transcendent cause:

• It must be heroic, calling forth bravery and sacrifice.

• It must be timeless, with merit beyond the moment.

• It must be meaningful.

Sadly, many of our youth know little about any cause other than themselves. William Damon, professor of education at Brown University, observes, "When we teach children to concern themselves with their own sense of self, we not only encourage self-centeredness but also fail to present a more constructive alternative: that they should concern themselves about things beyond and above the self. We fail to convey to them that there are important things in life beyond their own circumstances and feelings."

Often as dads, we:

• Invest our sons with marketplace competence, but not moral conviction.

• Help our sons to become socially successful, but not spiritually significant.

• Give our sons good things, but not the best things.

—Robert Lewis in Raising a Modern-Day Knight

My Response: Can those close to me see that I'm motivated by more than a paycheck or promotion?

Thought to Apply: My greatest fear for you is not that you will fail but that you will succeed in doing the wrong thing.

—Howard Hendricks (Christian educator)

Adapted from Raising a Modern-Day Knight (Tyndale, 1997) by permission.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me grasp, Lord, that my identity and value go way deeper than what I do for a living. And thank You for making this so.

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