"Their kids are successful while mine are still finding themselves at 25."
How it sounds in your head: Their son is a doctor. Their daughter owns a business. Yours moved back home. Again. You must have failed as a father because the proof is in the outcome, and right now, the outcome isn't impressive.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."
-- Psalm 127:3-5Religion: Parenting as performance review where your kids' success equals God's approval of you.
Christmas letters detail their kids' achievements while you avoid the topic. Social media shows their graduations and promotions. Your adult child is on the couch playing video games.
Manoah was barren for years, then given Samson who became a womanizing, rule-breaking, riddle-making wild man who ended up blind and imprisoned. Yet God used him to deliver Israel and he's listed in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith.
I REFUSE the lie that my kids' current status reflects my worth or God's favor. IT IS WRITTEN they are a heritage FROM THE LORD, not a product of my perfection. Their timing is not my grade. Jacob's sons were criminals in their twenties; my child's story isn't finished. The BARAK blessing covers my seed and my seed's seed for a thousand generations. IT IS WRITTEN in Joel 2:25 that God restores the years the locusts have eaten. I am not ashamed because their destiny is secure in the Father's hands, not dependent on comparison to other people's children.
Father isn't comparing your kids to theirs. He's the same Father who watched His own Son hang naked on a cross while religious people mocked—He knows what it's like when outcomes don't look 'successful,' and He's still running toward you with celebration, not condemnation.