Judges 2:10 "And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord."
What makes a child from a good Christian home go wayward? This seems to be an ever increasing problem with families that say they are trying to do the best they can with the Lord's help to raise their children for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The average "Christian" school has a large number of students that do not even attend a good sound fundamental Baptist church. A number of families that do go to church don't even get involved in any church ministry or activity. These young people coming up in these homes are future of the church. My question is to these families..."Are you really TRYING to raise your children for the honor and glory of the Lord or are you afraid to admit that you aren't and afraid to admit that because you aren't you are failing your children?" We can't expect much from the children that come from these homes.
It breaks my heart when I hear of a teenager going wayward from their parents and the parents are in church and have kept the children in church yet they don't protect them or deter them from the things of this world. These things include television programming, internet (chat rooms are a biggie), ungodly friends and family members that are against all that the parents are wanting their children to be for the Lord. Unfortunately the odds are against those parents that don't shelter their children from those worldly influences. Our children will not always understand why we are sheltering them like we are but we must always be ready to take them to the Word of God to show them what God says about these things they want to be involved in or the people they want to be involved with.
I was a teenager myself once (a long time ago!!). I was lost without God at that time in my life and I know the opportunities that were presented to me. Things have not changed for young people today. There are many traps laid out for our young people to fall into. I fell into the devil's trap that he laid out for me. Thank God by His mercy I survived those years of my life. The unfortunate thing is that not all teens do. If you are a young person who is reading this and you have parents that are saved and serving the Lord and trying to shelter you from the evils of this world...thank God for that!!! Not every young person does and in turn they destroy their lives as a result.
Love your parents and pray for them!! It makes it very hard on them when you buck against them and give them a hard time about things they are trying to protect you from. They are doing it for your good and for God's glory!!
18 comments:
You are so right! And I think that family members who do not go along with the things that they know a parent is trying to teach children should be more than ashamed of themselves. I will go so far as to say I don't think they should be allowed to participate in those children lives except on a special level that is with parents present.
It is so sad to think that all it takes is ONE generation for people not to know God, but that is how it is so we should be ever careful of those we allow our children to be "buddy, buddy" with. connie from Texas
Great Post!
sis. connie....I know that we have faced more than once the problem of relatives going against us and how we are trying to raise our children. We have had to separate from them and not let our kids spend alone time with them for that reason. It is sad to have to do that but it is our responsibility as parents to protect our children....regardless of who it hurts. Thank you for commenting.
I know as a teenager I didn't appreciate having to go to church and be involved. As a matter of fact, I was the only person in my school who attended church.
Now as an adult, I see how blessed I was to be raised in a Christain home.
Wonderful post as usual.
Love, Lyndy
What a blessing that you were raised in church. I would to God that I had been. But I wasn't and now I'm so thankful to be able to raise my kids up in the House of God and under good sound preaching. Every child should have the same honor and privelege. The chances for them turning out right are much better if they are.
One of the things that parents need to do is understand how their children are spiritually gifted. How can we direct our children if we don't know what talents and interests God has built into them? Without strong parental guidance, children often flounder, going off in all sorts of crazy directions. But when they are guided toward "where they should go" they flourish in healthy ways. I believe as parents, it's our solemn responsibility to "diagnose" before we "prescribe." Hugs!
I enjoyed reading your post. Your views so reflect my parents that I had to smile. I am so thankul for the godly parents I have. Thank you though for that reminder.
Ginger
e-mom...thank you for your comment and for what you added. You are so right.
ginger...you are definitely blessed to have godly parents that love you and care for you enough to protect you from the evils of this world,.
When I was a teenager, I gave my praents a run for their money. We were not christians,but my parents were good parents. They loved us dearly and diciplined us when needed.When I grew up I felt such guilt for what I put my parents through, I let them know it too. I thanked them for being such wonderful parents. They have always been there for me when I needed them and still are.
I am so glad the Lord drew me unto him while my kids were still young. My husband and I were able to show them the love of the Lord and how important He is in their lives.
We should thank our parents for what they did to get us through our younger years.
Cristina
sis. cristina....you are so right. My parents were saved either but they raised us kids the best they knew how. They were strict on us and I did not honor them at all when I was at home. I too have asked them to forgive me for that time in my life and they graciously did (not understanding why I would ask them for it). I thank God for the parents he let me have and I pray for them daily that they will come to know the Lord in a personal way so they too can experience true love in their lives.
Thank you for sharing this. It saddens me, as well, to see children that are being raised in Christian homes going away from the Lord. It seems that in many cases, the parents expect their children to get their training from only the church and the pastor but many times neglect to do what God has called them/us to do as parents. What a blessing it is when we start when they're young in training and sheltering them. And when we do it in the right spirit, in love, and back it up with God's Word and prayer, our children are more inclined to be thankful for their parents and their protection.
Great thoughts. Thank you for sharing.
~ Christina
I wanted to say thanks for your kind words. As a newcomer to the IFB Blogging community, it's neat to find out how many incredible blogs already exsist. I will definately be pointing people your direction. GREAT CONTENT!!!
Timely post for these days we live in. Parents are so important in their children's lives, so they must be consistant. I know many of our young people in good churches go astray due to hearing and seeing one thing at church and hearing and seeing a whole other side at home! Our kids aren't dummies and absolutely know when we are phony. I'm afraid that many are PUSHED away due to lack of consistency and love, both in the home and in the church these days. We parents must also pick our battles. If we make everything a battleground or portray to our kids that they can't do anything right or make any right choices, we drive them right into the arms of the world I'm afraid! I've seen teens come into church and have 2 or 3 adults get on to them through the course of morning, but yet not hear one Christian adult give words of encouragement to that teen. What a tragedy! Kids who are trained at home and truly brought up in the admonition of the Lord will know we are putting limitations on their friends and activities due to our love for them. Wow, this is long. I think I'm finished venting now!
sis. christina...thank you for coming by and leaving a comment. There are too many parents that are letting the pastor and/or the Sunday School teacher do the training for them and then they don't enforce that training in the home. It is quite confusing to the children and that is where the parents often lose them. I know where several parents that this has happened to and they indeed have lost their children to the world.
bro. david....thank you for coming by and leaving a comment. I enjoy your site and thank you for the kind words here as well. Thank you also for your pointing people this way. I only desire to do as God would have me do with this blog and be a blessing and help to those desiring to live for Christ. Thank you again.
sis. pam...don't worry about the long comment. Not a big deal. I enjoy long comments when they are a result of God working in them and them sharing how God helped them through a post. We have got to be encouraging to our young people. It is very damaging to always be pointing out the negative and not pointing out the positive in their lives. They have got to have that or the result will be as you said...they will go to the world and the things of the world. Very good point you made!!
Mrs Julie good post. Both these posts on the home have been excellent. I am afraid there is a generation being rose that knows not God. The Lord is dealing with my heart about a couple of things concerning this. I want to see our teenagers on fire, but more than that I want to see other teenagers get saved before they ruin there life. After that meeting the other night the Lord really has been speaking to my heart about trying to do more in a teenager outreach. It is hard because most teenagers our not just going to come to hear preaching. And anytime we get more teenagers we have to be even more cautious and chaperone even more. Just some thoughts the Lord has on my heart. We could do a teen meeting and get other churches to come, but what really will that do as far as outreach. I am planning on having a teen meeting at the end or summer or beginning of fall just got to get the date from the Lord as well as the preacher that needs to preach. Well have a good day. Again great post. We can do something to help this generation know God.
Bro Tim
bro. tim...I've always had a burden for teens. I'm glad to know someone else who shares in that burden. I'm glad you are praying about a teen meeting at the end of summer. We need to really bathe that meeting. Then we need to get our teens to invite and maybe even go out passing out flyers inviting teens to the meeting..what do you think? I'm so glad you have this on your heart to do. I've been praying that God would place it on your heart to hold a meeting like this.
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