Make it your mission . . . to make it your kids’ mission . . . to hear, “Well done!”

MLK had a dream – that his kids would be judged by the content of their character. I too have a dream – a defining mission. It’s so vivid, so enrapturing, so consuming because, like MLK’s dream, it’s about how my kids’ character will be judged. It starts as I enter heaven . . .

My dream

My eyes are opening from a fog and my chest is actually pounding. It’s as if a veil has suddenly been lifted. For the first time, my life has perfect clarity. Struggles, so hard to explain at the time, had been interlocking pieces of a grand puzzle. People, even those forgotten, are hugging me. Turns out, my random acts of kindness had been providential pieces of their life stories.

As I stand in awe, soaking it all in, it happens. I look up, see Jesus, and feel inexpressible joy and indescribable reverence, even more than I could have imagined. Instinctively, I drop to my knees and fall face first to the ground. As my Lord runs from His throne with the most amazing, loving grin, He picks me up and whispers in my ear, “Tim, I’ve been waiting for you soooo long!”

I want to shout or praise, but I’m utterly speechless. All I can do is bury my head in His chest and receive His warm embrace. Looking piercingly into my tear-filled eyes, He says, “Welcome home, Tim!” And with a subtle nod and a few tears of His own, He utters these intimate words, “Thank you for making it easy for your family to love me too! Well done, Dad!”

A new dream

That was my personal dream for decades. But then God gave me a new dream, a dream so glorious that it changed everything. That dream:  Watching Jesus do the same with my kids!!

No, I can’t make this happen for my kids. I can’t cajole, beg, or force it on them. But I can do everything possible to help my kids join me in experiencing God’s “well-done” – the finale of character.

Well-done:  The finale of character

The finale of godly character is laid out in the parable of the talents: “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master’” (Matt. 25:21). More than the destination of faithfulness, well-done is the finale of faithfulness and the motivation for pursuing it.

Well-done faithfulness isn’t what you do when you know the Master is watching; it’s what you do when you think he’s not watching. It isn’t even about maximizing your rewards; it’s about maximizing your opportunity, whether it’s a little or a lot.

And remember the result of “Well done!” It’s more responsibility, not more rest. And with more responsibility comes more accountability and more crowns to lay at the Master’s feet. And with more crowns comes and even more excited embrace with the Master.

The biblical word for “well done” isn’t casual gratitude. It has a peculiar force and energy that’s hard to describe in English. It describes how onlookers give their highest applause for excellence. Now, try to imagine God standing from His mercy seat and giving His highest applause for your faithfulness. And why wouldn’t He? After all, He’s your Father, you’re His child, and you’ve made Him so incredibly proud. He’s not just accepting you; He’s applauding!  No longer a slave, He’s yours, you’re His, and you’re entering into His joy as a 100% heir of His kingdom.

Praise from family and friends is great, but the only praise that truly matters is God’s. We can do good, but good-enough isn’t well-done. And we can have great intentions, but well-intended isn’t well-done. Well-done is running your race well, helping others run theirs, and finishing strong.

The Apostle Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7) and “I press on toward the goals for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14). Paul’s passion was “if only I may finish the course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24).

For although my kids picked Worship, Worshipping, and Worshipful as their “W” Secret Sauce character quality word, their worship will always be rooted in a family dream of “Well-done!”

What’s your “W” character quality?

The “W” of your A-to-Z Secret Sauce of character qualities might be: Warm, Warrior, Well-done, Well-spoken, Wholesome, Willing, Winsome, Wise, Witness, Worry-free, Worshipful, or something else. To help you pick your 26 character qualities, click here for a Free Printable Workbook, instructions, and 300 sample A-to-Z character qualities.

Questions: If your kids followed your example so far, what would Jesus say about their character? What “W” word communicates the character you want for your family, and why?