Have we failed our kids because they're bored?

on Nov 4, 2021

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: My husband and I provide our children’s needs, and most of their wants, so we have been shaken to the core to hear our kids say that they are bored. We’ve given them everything possible to enjoy life and give them childhood memories that will last a lifetime. We feel like we’ve failed. – B.K.

A: This is the most entertained generation in history. Large-screen TVs pull in hundreds of channels. Sports teams take in (and spend) billions of dollars. Children are upset if they don’t get the latest games on their devices, and adults are always on their smartphones even when in a restaurant for a meal.

There is a frantic search for entertainment and it is a symptom of something deeper. Some have suggested that we are the most bored generation in history — and perhaps that is correct. Down inside is an empty place in our hearts — a restlessness, a search for inner peace — that just won’t go away. And the more we try to satisfy it with entertainment, the less content we become. People need something more to live for.

Only Jesus can fill that empty space in our hearts, and He will, whether it is a child’s heart, a parent’s heart, or the hearts of the elderly. As we open our lives to Him, and live according to His ways, He brings us opportunities to serve Him — and others — and we find that boredom goes away and joy fills our hearts. God’s Word points us to the future — to Heaven — where our hearts will be full and overflowing with thankfulness to God for what He has accomplished on the cross. And when we surrender to Him in this life, He fills us with peace and true contentment.

“He who heeds the word wisely will find good… happy is he” (Proverbs 16:20).

========

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)