1. You are my son/daughter. This states ownership on my part, and identity on theirs. It gives them a place to belong, in my family. This is the foundational statement on which the other two phrases are built.

2. I love you. This is one of those phrases I don’t think I can say enough. This tells my kids I accept them as they are. My boys are finally to the age where they randomly say to me, “I love you, dad”. I treasure those unprompted comments from them.

3. I am proud of you. My pride in them is not because of performance, but because they are mine. I regularly ask my oldest, “Do you know why I am proud of you?” He always looks me back in the eyes, smiles, and proudly says, “Because I’m your son.” Occasionally, he’ll say he doesn’t remember why I’m proud of him. I don’t mind when he does that. It’s his way of telling me he needs to hear it from me again.

Where did I get this? From the example God set for us as Father. At the baptism of Jesus, before He had done anything of significance in His earthly ministry, God says in Matthew 3:17: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

…God was claiming Him as His own. Because of his sonship, God loved him and was proud of him.

These words are powerful. Don’t believe me? Try them on your kids. Now remember, if you have gone some time without telling them this, you might feel weird or out of place. Let me encourage you to push through it. It’s worth it. (via Kevin East)

This is quite simply great advice and it will make a difference in your child’s life no matter how young or old they are. Don’t cheat them from knowing they are yours, that you love them, and that you are proud to be their parent.

While I was truly grateful for my parent’s gift, I quickly discovered that I had a problem: I didn’t know how to ride it. It had no training wheels, was much bigger than the little bike I’d been riding, and I was afraid. Enter my dad who, on a cool and cloudy Oregon morning, walked me and my new bike out to the dead end road on which we lived.

“Go ahead, get on.†he said.

“But I’m a little scared, dad.†I replied.

“It’s okay, Reed, I’ll be here holding on until you get your balance.â€

With that promise from my dad to give me courage, I went for it. I struggled onto that banana seat, struggled to find the peddles, and then struggled to get that bike moving forward. And I was successful! It felt great knowing that I was moving forward and even better knowing that dad was keeping that bike from tipping over.

He was faithful to his word to me that day. I don’t know how long he ran along beside me, except to say that he was there holding on as long as I needed him too. And then, when I was ready, he let go and ran along beside me as I balanced on my own, gaining confidence with every revolution of the peddles. My dad was there that morning. He was there holding on when I couldn’t balance on my own and he was there right beside as I continued to ride under my own power.

In thinking back on that day, I remember feeling grateful for my new bike; that thing I’d just received was my focus as a little kid. Now, some 34 years later, I’m still grateful, but for something else. That new bike is now old and abandoned long ago to time and the elements. So I’m not grateful for that it (I’d look pretty silly riding it now). Rather, I’m grateful that my dad was there that morning. I’m grateful that he sustained my balance. I’m grateful that he ran beside me when I was ready. That morning represents one of the best memories I have from childhood!

17Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NLT)

Sometimes in life we become grateful for, and find security in, the wrong things – the stuff we have, the paychecks we receive, that status we’ve attained. Don’t get me wrong, they are gifts for sure, but to be grateful in only the gifts, rather than the one who gives them is missing the point and missing the true joy.

Just like time with my dad was the true and lasting gift of that morning so long ago, so our God, who helps us balance every day if we ask him and who runs beside us our whole lives, is our true gift every day. All the stuff we think we can rely on will one day either let us down or be abandoned by us along the way. But in the end, though everything else will go away, He will still be there with us!

Be glad today not because you have stuff, no matter how shiny it is, but because your God, the gift beyond all circumstances, has you!