God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
There is a true sense in which you must teach your children to fear God, and especially to fear His displeasure. You have not satisfied the responsibilities of parenthood when you have made your child submit to you. If you are consistent and firm in your discipline, your child may obey you because he or she fears violating your standards. That is a fairly easy thing to achieve. But it is not the proper goal of biblical parenting. Your child should fear violating God’s standard, not merely yours. You are only an intermediary with the responsibility of teaching your child to fear God. If your children grow up fearing only your displeasure but not God’s, what will they do when you are not there?
Mediocrity is a sin not unlike the other sins we battle as Christians. And mediocrity, like all sins, begins in our hearts (Jas. 1:14). Mediocrity is one of those sins that we can’t blame on others. It starts with the sin of pride deep within us that spills over to indifference or selfishness and then reveals itself in mediocrity. Overall, it is a lack of faith in God. It is a lack of rightly understanding and then believing and then being overwhelmed by the greatness of our God. It is the failure to be amazed by God’s excellence. Simply put, less-than-excellent efforts are a result of not admiring a nothing-but-excellent God.