‘I love you, I’m proud of you.’ Have you told your child that today? | Opinion
There’s a story in the Christian Scriptures that fascinates me: The new itinerant preacher is ready to begin his ministry along the dusty byways of his native land, but there is an official act that must be performed first. The preacher needs to be baptized, immersed in the muddy water of the Jordan River.
When the preacher from Galilee approaches the riverbank in Judea, his cousin, the baptist, sees him coming and says, “Uh, no way. I can’t baptize you. You are the holy one. You must baptize me.” The preacher looks at his cousin, clears his throat and says, “We must each do our part to fulfill the prophecies which have been written about us.”
With this sorted out, the man wearing garments of camel’s hair and a leather girdle welcomes the god disguised in a people suit who walks up to him. The preacher is ready to begin the enormous, complicated and risky job that he has been asked to do on behalf of the whole of humanity — a job that would ultimately mean immeasurable suffering and an ignominious death.
What a moment, right? Where is his family? Who will stand with him for this momentous event? There is no mention of his mother or his father. Is he all alone in this staggeringly difficult moment? Is there no one to say, “I’m with you. You can depend on me.”
He is lowered into the water. He is baptized like hundreds of others — just one more in a long line of supplicants. But wait! The crowd looks up as the heavens are opened and a radiant dove gracefully descends, circles the assembled throng, pulls in her wings and settles on the preacher’s shoulder. The crowd is mesmerized. Murmuring, they ask, “What can this mean?”
And just when it seems that the afternoon can get no stranger, those gathered are surprised by a voice of unusual clarity, volume and power, saying, “I love you, my son, and I am exceedingly proud of who you are.”
So, his father is with him after all. And his father knows just what he needs to hear at this life-defining moment. The itinerant preacher who is stepping out on the hardest job ever undertaken by humankind needs to hear what every child needs to hear from a parent: “I love you, and I am proud of you.”
Even Jesus, the son of God, needed the reassurance that he was loved and cherished by his father.
How much more do our children need to hear that from us? It costs us nothing, takes only a few seconds of our time and yet finds its place deep within the child’s heart — squirreled away to be taken out and examined when things get tough; when they are taking a deep breath and stepping out into unknown territory; when they have been given a dauntingly difficult assignment.
“I’m not alone. Someone loves me. Someone is proud of me.”
That itinerant preacher went on to merely set the world on fire. Throughout his rigorous undertaking of the task assigned to him, he knew two things: his father loved him, and his father was proud of him.
What can your child imagine, dream, hope and accomplish with the gift of your belief, trust, confidence and, yes, love? With these gifts, children can be one-of-a-kind, original, bright-eyed evangelists for good in the world.
Bunny Stevens lives in Modesto, her hometown, and has served on The Modesto Bee Community Advisory Board. She is the opening courtesy clerk at the Safeway supermarket on McHenry Avenue and an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church. Reach her at BunnyinModesto@gmail.com
This story was originally published August 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "‘I love you, I’m proud of you.’ Have you told your child that today? | Opinion."