Ministers Blogs
“What are we teaching our children?”
Categories: Christian Principles, Marriage and FamilyIn ancient China, the people desired security from the barbaric hordes to the north, so they built the great Chinese wall. It was so high they knew no one could climb over it and so thick that nothing could break it down. They settled back to enjoy their security. During the first 100 years of the wall's existence, China was invaded three times. Not once did the barbaric hordes break down the wall or climb over the top. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right through the gates. The Chinese were so busy relying upon the walls of stone that they forgot to teach integrity to their children.
Even today we can have the best home security systems, the finest health care money can buy, the safest car, or live in the securest neighborhoods and still lose our children to drugs, alcohol, immorality, or other harmful influences. The key is what are we teaching our children? Are we teaching them right from wrong? Are we actively involved in their lives? Do we know their friends? Do we know what is going on at school? Are we being a family to our children? And most important are we teaching our children to put the Lord God first in their lives?
Isaiah 54:13, states, “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”
The success of our children and our families depends on many things but the main thing the Bible teaches us is to center our lives on the Lord.
One of the saddest passages of the Bible is Hosea 4:6 which reads, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”
Notice this verse’s warning; if we do not teach, model, and set godly examples for our children, they will fall away from God. Hosea 4:6 goes on to teach that God will even ignore our children because we chose not to follow Him.
Why would God ignore our children? Because we have not taught our children to know and follow the Lord. They cannot know and follow the Lord if we have not made God a priority in our life.
The wisdom of the Wall of China still rings true today. Don’t be so busy relying on physical things to bring us security, but spend time with your children teaching them things of God that will give them security for eternity.
By Mark T. Tonkery
