Tell Them Who They Are

Even the smallest life clings to what sustains it. Like the shell resting at the water’s edge, we are made to draw from the Source. Apart from Him, we dry up. With Him, every breath, every moment, becomes a reflection of His love.

Pouring Into the Next Generation With Love That Has Nothing Hidden

I recently revisited a story Bob Goff tells in Everybody Always. He once rode in a limo and discovered the driver had never sat in the back. So Bob convinced him to switch seats. The driver slipped into the back, Bob put on the hat, and for a few miles the world was upside down.

What struck me most was not the novelty of the ride. It was that Bob listened. Somewhere in that conversation the driver must have shared that he had been living with his partner for ten years. Bob did not turn that detail into a correction or a sermon. He never even made a point of saying he was listening. He simply noticed, cared, and affirmed. The driver went home with a story about who he was, not a list of what to fix. That is love that carries nothing hidden behind it.

What Jesus Did, and Still Does

Jesus had this same way of meeting people. He saw Zacchaeus before He invited Himself over (Luke 19). He spoke with the woman at the well long enough to uncover her thirst before offering living water (John 4). He touched lepers before He declared them clean (Mark 1). At Calvary He affirmed worth with His own blood (Luke 23). Truth mattered, but love always led, and both met at the cross.

What This Generation Needs

And here is the line from Bob we should pause on. “People don’t grow where they are informed. They grow where they are loved and accepted.” I believe he is exactly right. The next generation is drowning in information, but information has not made them whole. What will change them is love that has nothing hidden behind it.

Our kids are growing up in a storm of facts, opinions, and arguments. They are informed constantly, yet rarely known deeply. They need adults who will slow down enough to hear the detail behind their words, who will name their worth in Christ, who will speak life when they are not in the room, who will build belonging not as leverage but as a reflection of God’s welcome. That kind of love is not strategy. It is obedience to the God who first loved us.

For Leaders and Churches Alike

To my Christian Executive Fellowship brothers and sisters, this is also the heart of leadership. Teams thrive where people are heard end to end, where identity is honored, where words spoken in quiet rooms are life-giving, where belonging is not used as a bargaining chip. That posture builds healthy churches and healthy companies alike.

And for the church, let’s remember: programs matter. Volunteers, budgets, and clean spaces matter. But the next generation will not stay because of programs alone. They will stay where they feel loved, known, and wanted. They will stay where adults are present without rushing, where tables matter as much as stages, where one faithful mentor matters more than ten flashy events, and where prayer matters more than performance.

The Bottom Line

If a limo driver can go home saying, “I met someone who told me who I am,” imagine students, kids, and young adults leaving our churches and homes saying the same. That is what pouring into the next generation looks like. Not more information. More love. Not more management. More shepherding. Love that carries nothing hidden, nothing self-serving, nothing conditional. Just the cross, alive in us.

.

.

.

Tell Them Who They Are