It quite possibly could be every Christian parent’s dream to see their kid, like my 9-year-old above, worshiping God with an arm extended and eyes closed, appearing fully surrendered to their Father. Isn’t this what we pray for, yearn for, and deeply desire for our kids? I know I do.

I believe the purpose of parenting is to partner with God to shape the spiritual trajectory of our kid’s lives so they leave our homes bent on making God famous. And I know I will feel that I have lived into this purpose, if I see my kids in love with Jesus.

But when I look at my kid worshipping God in this picture, great is my temptation to relax, to slow up. To step out of the boxing ring of the fight and off the treadmill of the race towards helping my kids love Jesus more than life itself. As if I’ve done my job, and now it’s time to exhale and let my hair down, because I see my kid outwardly expressing his inward reality.

But this is the worst move we could make as Christian parents.

The reason my 9-year-old can extend his arm like this so freely, is because no one tells him not to. At least not yet. No peers, no fear of what others will think, no girl he’s trying to be cool enough for. When we worship God with abandon like this, we’re often saying that God means more to us than anything in this world. That life is in fact, not about me, but all about God. And right now, my 9-year-old has nothing to lose.

But what about when he’s 12, 15, 18-years old, and could lose his reputation for extending his arms in worship? When the time comes and he wants nothing more than to be accepted but choosing Jesus means deep rejection? When his entire world is calling him to live life for himself and Christ is calling my son to sacrifice it all for Him? Maybe like you, my teenage-self fell prey to a self-centered life as soon as a boy looked in my direction. When the voices of our peers become louder than the voice of God, we can quickly and way too easily eject God out of the game He’s coached us to play.

When we see our elementary-aged kids in love with Jesus we can become lazy and stop fighting the enemy for our kid’s soul. No matter how expressive or inexpressive our kiddos are for Christ, we must never give up praying. Never give up fighting. Never give up embracing every teachable moment we have to help them become—and stay—the God-famous-world-changers we’ve envisioned them becoming. The enemy won’t give up on them. God won’t give up on them. And neither should we.