Discipline your children and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad. Proverbs 29:17, NKJV

 

If Children are the hope of the future, then parents are their hope for the present. It’s time for this present generation of parents to assume their sacred position—to fight against and protect their children from the lies of the evil one and instill in them the Truth of the Holy One.

When Psalm 127:3 was written, a Jew would understand, “Why is a house being built if not a place to raise a family? Why does a watchman protect the city if not for the families living in it?” In other words, the family was and still is the most important element of any society and is worth protecting. However, our postmodern culture has declared an all-out war on God’s design for the family, and the future of our society is in grave danger. Dr. John MacArthur said in a recent sermon:

“If a child can escape abortion and be born, that child has about a 50/50 chance of being born to a married couple. It is likely that that married couple will get a divorce. It is likely that they will be unfaithful to their marital vows. It is likely that the child will be sent to a public school and come under the influence of those whose agenda is anti- God, anti-Christ, anti-Scripture.”

Satan's war against our children starts in the womb and it never lets up. Satan has usurped every entity to which parents have traditionally turned for support—the church house, the school house, and the court house. Many churches today are concerned with entertaining our children rather than teaching them the truth of God’s Word. Public and private schools are indoctrinating our children with a dangerous Marxist ideology that goes against everything we believe. The liberal courts no longer administer equal justice to those who violate common standards of decency. Add in the perverted sexualization of our K-12 students and you have a recipe for societal suicide.

These precious little ones, who carry our last names, are magnificent gifts from God. They bear His image, and we only have a few short years to accomplish our sacred assignment; to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6, ESV).

God intended parents to be the most influential teachers in their children’s lives and to have the utmost influence upon their decision-making process. In that regard, it is not only our right but our responsibility to do all we can to protect them now.

As we face an uncertain future, while it may benefit our children to have a good education and leave them with some level of financial security, if possible, the greatest legacy we can leave them is to make sure they know God, to have taught them about His unconditional love as expressed through the death of His Son for our salvation, and for them to have utter confidence in the absolute truth of His unchanging Word. This is our sacred assignment.

As a Pastor, a parent, and a grandparent, I exhort you, parents, to do whatever is required to prepare your children to face the spiritual battle they are prone to encounter every day. Lead them to respect and revere God and Scripture so they will make the same resolve as Daniel did as a teenager; to purpose in their heart to not disobey God, even if they suffer persecution for their decision.

Finally, with such formidable foes fighting against us, may we not lose sight of our eternal significance for even one moment of one hour of one day. Because one day soon, we will give an account unto God as to how we raised the children He entrusted to us.

Essential habits for your sacred assignment as a parent:

• Pray for and with your children.
• Read the Word of God together.
• Spend quality time as a family, and individually with each child.
• Go to church and worship together as a family.
• Limit your child’s exposure to negative outside influences (monitor their friendships, school curricula, device use, and various forms of media exposure).
• Model the life of a Christ follower.
• Make certain Christ is honored in your home.
• Do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up with loving discipline and godly instruction.
  
  

WAYNE is a pastor and a writer. He attended Columbia International University and has served as Senior Pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Perry, Georgia since 2010.