The blessedness of the humble

This [the Gospel] is despised as a weak and foolish thing by those who are wise and strong in themselves; yet this is the grace which heals the weak, who do not proudly boast a blessedness of their own, but rather humbly acknowledge their real misery. (Augustine City of God p335)

If we would truly call our children to Christ through the Gospel, we must be faithful to the message of the Gospel: that this good news is for the humble, but not for the proud. It is for the miserable, not for those who feign happiness. It is for the self-despairing, not the self-confident.

In a day when self-esteem and self-confidence are hailed as great virtues rather than grave evils, the Gospel appears as foolishness - and it is. "[I]t pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21). If we love our children, we will announce, in word and life, that we find rest and joy and peace in being nothing, and God being everything.