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St. John Chrysostom on raising children as athletes for Christ
The speaker reflects on the common parental focus on leaving financial inheritance and contrasts it with St. John Chrysostom's teaching from 1,600 years ago. Chrysostom wrote that children do not need gold but someone to guide them and shape their heart. He compares children to statues that parents carve daily through every word, reaction, and example.
Chrysostom gives practical advice: show children the sky, the sun, the flowers of the earth, and the meadows. The speaker notes this advice hits harder today because children see screens all day, and asks how often we take them outside to see what God made. Chrysostom's goal for parents is to raise an athlete for Christ, a child who loves God, not one who is rich or famous.
The speaker ends by asking viewers what one thing they want to give their children that money cannot buy.
Key moments
- Most parents work their whole lives to leave their children money, and the speaker initially had the same plan for his own son.
- St. John Chrysostom wrote a book on raising children 1,600 years ago stating they do not need gold but someone to guide them and shape their heart.
- Chrysostom compares children to statues that parents carve every day with every word, reaction, and example.
- Chrysostom gives practical advice: show children the sky, the sun, the flowers of the earth, and the meadows.
- This advice hits harder today because children see screens all day, and the speaker asks how often we take them outside to see what God made.
- Chrysostom's goal for parents is to raise an athlete for Christ, not a rich or famous child, but a child who loves God.
- The speaker asks viewers what one thing they want to give their children that money cannot buy.