The thing about tolerance...

I feel like people go crazy over a particular word every once in a while.
The most popular word on people's list right now?

Intolerance.

You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?
As soon as someone has a differing opinion than me?
They throw me a label of intolerance to wear.

I think people get a little carried away with it, and the funny part is...they kind of become. Ya know,

Intolerant!

Just a little food for thought.

If we are teaching our kids to be tolerant about everything, where does the line get drawn with teaching our kids to be strong in their convictions and beliefs?

The word intolerance has become another way of saying:
Whatever is right for you.
As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, what's the harm in it?
Love is love.
There is no absolute truth.

The only thing wrong with that, is that there has to be absolute truth.
There is a right way and there is a wrong way.

It doesn't matter how strongly and how passionately you believe one way or the other, truth is truth.

I am constantly praying that my kids will have wisdom.
I pray that they will hear God's voice over all the other voices they hear.
And there are a lot of voices.
They seem to be getting louder and louder, and it becomes even more important to teach your kids to be strong in their beliefs.
Do NOT misunderstand me.
Just because my kids are strong in their beliefs does not give them the liberty to judge.
Their convictions are what is going to keep them strong. Not your kids strong.
And my convictions? Are what make me strong. Not you strong.

I am not being intolerant of your views and beliefs, but what kind of a person does it make me if I don't have any strong convictions?
I don't think it makes me intolerant. I think it makes me weak.

I think when a person is overly "tolerant" about everything, it just shows me that they don't have a backbone. They don't have the courage to stand up for what they believe.

So I encourage you to really think about your beliefs and what you are basing those beliefs on.
They have to based on truth...not what feels good for me.
Because let's face it, peeps. The way I feel today may very well be totally different than how I feel tomorrow!
And you need to be encouraging your kids to have strong convictions.
The teaching of God's Word gives light.
It keeps us safe, protected and strong.
And that is what  I want for my kids and for myself.

These are the only things I should be intolerant of:
I want to be totally intolerant of sin in my life.
I want to be totally intolerant of things that bring me down.

In doing that? I am strong.

I am teaching my kids that they can have convictions that make them stronger, not weaker.
It may cause them to lose friends and that's ok. I would rather have them be strong.
It may cause them to not be as popular. That's ok too. I would rather have them be strong.
Belief in an absolute truth that comes from God's Word is when I am my strongest.

Let's not get confused by a skewed belief in a word that is not necessarily wrong.
It just needs to be used in the right way.