Protecting Children

Protecting Our Children

Matthew 18:6-7

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks…but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes.”

 

            We live in a time of unprecedented moral change. Wrong has become right, and right has become wrong.  However, the tsunami of change that has blown across our country would not have surprised Paul.  For Paul, it was predictable.  In Romans 1, he warns that once a society has rejected God and forsaken his moral compass, the natural outcome is not only society embracing immorality, but they would “give hearty approval to those who practice them” Romans 1:28-32.  

            Having pointed to the importance of becoming like a child to enter into the kingdom of God, Jesus warns those who would lead a child down the path of moral and spiritual corruption. Anyone who entices an innocent child to sin and deceives them with false truth will face the severe judgment of God.  God takes sin seriously and takes special note of those who lead a child down the path of moral corruption. The word “causes to stumble” has the idea of leading a child into something they do not properly understand, thus deceiving them.  This refers to any sin or behavior contrary to God’s moral law.  Tragically, we see this happening in our culture today.  As our culture embraces immorality and justifies it under the guise of ‘personal identity,’ it has not only propagated this morality with adults, it is teaching it to our children.  Sadly, the new morality is taught in grade schools and infiltrates children’s programs and movies.  But even more disturbing and tragic, churches are promoting it today. While claiming to uphold the Scriptures, they distort and reject the Biblical instruction regarding marriage and sexuality. They then offer children’s events to propagate this ideology.   This will not go unnoticed by God.

            So, how do we protect our children in a distorted world?  It begins by teaching them the biblical morality taught in the scriptures.  The answer to what is false is to teach what is true.  This requires intentionality in our teaching.  We must intentionally teach our children the morality taught in scripture.  Second, we need to make our voices heard in our school districts to stand against the attack on biblical morality.  But as we do so, we need to speak with grace and love.  Third, we must protect our children from TV shows, movies, and social media presenting the new morality.  Last, we must be more intentional in involving our children in church, Sunday School, and various children’s ministries.  

            We are in a spiritual battle for the minds and hearts of our children.  The battle for the soul begins with the struggle of the mind.  The first step in leading people down the path of immorality is to change how we think.  Paul recognized this when he stated, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is.” (Romans 12:2).  To live rightly before God, we must think rightly about God and his moral law.  We need to be immersed in the Scriptures to listen to the voice of God rather than the voice of the world.  What and who we listen to determines our beliefs and actions. We cannot be ashamed of the teaching of scripture. More so today, as the world is bombarding us with a message contrary to God’s word. Above all else, we need to prioritize God’s moral truth by teaching it at home and involving our children in the church where they will be taught the importance and message of Scripture.  Our children are inundated with the voice of the false morality of our age; we need to make sure that they are flooded with the voice of God to bring moral clarity and guidance.