Our Number One Goal

I was born in the generation known as the Baby Boomers. Our children are now called the Millennials, also dubbed the Me Generation. My generation thought the problem with the world was low self-esteem. Therefore, a lot of emphasis was given to, and a lot of money was spent on, the self-esteem movement. (This was never the problem, by the way, because it never has been a problem for us to learn to love ourselves. The problem is that we love ourselves enough already.)

As a result, a sense of entitlement—the idea that you don’t have to work hard and that everything should be given to you because you’re so wonderful—is now a big problem in our country. If you don’t believe me, then just watch some auditions for American Idol. People with no ability whatsoever are completely oblivious to it. And when a judge has the audacity to tell them that singing is probably not what they should do with their lives, they get upset.

Consider these statistics from a Time magazine article in 2013: "The National Institutes of Health found that for people in their 20s, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is three times as high than the generation that’s 65 or older. . . . Millennials received so many participation trophies growing up that 40 percent of them think they should be promoted every two years—regardless of performance."

Not long ago, a group of 18 to 25 year-olds were asked what their goals were in life. The number one goal cited was to get rich. The second most-mentioned goal was to be famous. These are people who have their priorities out of order.

Our number one goal should be to know God . . . and then to find His plan and purpose for our lives.