Have you ever raised a teenager, especially a teenage boy? They have selective motivation. When they are assigned chores to help their family, they can be lazy and full of excuses. But given some free time for online video games, they will outwork the best of us to win their game.

Over the course of my life I have seen the quality of the products we buy go steadily downhill. In a former home I owned, the motherboard on my dishwasher would need to be replaced a couple times per year. And this was a “high end” dishwasher. High price, perhaps, but mediocre quality.

Unless you were born with a trust fund waiting for you, you have to work. There’s nothing more satisfying than putting in a good day’s work. The sense of accomplishment creates a sense of well being that goes beyond your output. You want to do it again.

Scripture tells us to “work like we are working for the Lord.” That’s a pretty tall order, but it gives us a benchmark.

If you answered yes to raising a teenager, don’t worry. There’s no need to get angry or frustrated with them. They will eventually figure it out. In the interim you gotta figure out their pain point. Up the pain and the behavior will change…