Sheltered
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 KJV
One of the most exciting and scariest things that has happened to me in the past year is that I have became a parent. Parents are very important people, they are the backbone of a nation. Why? A nation is full of children who need guidance and the parents are the ones who steer their children in the way that they go (whether good or bad). When you realize what great task this is, it'll bring upon an excitement, but it's also normal to feel a little apprehension. It's exciting because God has entrusted this soul into your hands to lead, nurture, and guide. It's a little scary for that same reason- me, leading a soul? but that's why He gives us instructions - He tells us to raise them in the way that they should go.
One day I was talking with someone and we were having a discussion on parenting and how to raise our children. The person said to me, you can't "shelter" your child. (Buckle your seat belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride). After our conversation, I was a little unsettled because I knew in my heart what I want to do is beneficial for my child. So, I prayed and sat on it, then God gave me this revelation- as parents, WE MUST SHELTER OUR CHILDREN. I know you're thinking, that's crazy, but think about it. Shelter means to protect or shield them from something harmful.
What are we as Christian parents to protect them from? THE WORLD! So, don't believe the old adage, "don't shelter your child." Some people may say it innocently, but there is a subliminal message behind this saying. It's straight from Satan himself to get Christian parents to be passive about raising their children. Why? he is after our children, to destroy their generations, and when their adults, they'll be very few Christians who are actually taking a stand for Christ.
So how do we protect our children? We do exactly what GOD tells us to do_ but wait, what is It that He tells us to do? He tells us to raise them in THE WAY that they should go. And what way is that? GOD wants us to raise our children according to His standard. Yes, they may go astray when they are older, but when they are under our care, we are to teach them the truth of God's ways. If you go back and read Proverbs 22:6, it's placed in the middle of a group of passages/things or even ways we should be teaching our children: seek to have a good name rather than riches (v1), a prudent/smart person runs away from evil, but a simple/foolish run to it (v3), and by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life (v4). These are the type of things we should be teaching our children. The Gospel, how to forgive, treat others, how to love God, etc... The Bible is filled with awesome instructions to help raise our children throughout the Old and New Testaments.
But there is a problem. One of the things God command us to teach our children is not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that they may know what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of the Father (Rom 12:2). The problem is if we take the notion that we can't shelter our kids, then we leave room for them to be conformed to the world. Why is this so dangerous and so serious? Look out in the world today, no offense, but I think even a blind person can see (discern) that this world is CRAZY! You'll get things like, "But you can't protect them from everything," or "Don't keep them so sheltered that they don't know anything about the world." The last statement is essentially what you're saying when you say "don't shelter your kids." It's the subliminal message behind the saying. Get this though: it's exactly what the enemy want us to do-let them have a little taste the world. I say NO. It's a very BIG NO!
No one has to teach a child to steal a cookie, it's our fleshly, sinful nature. If you let your child have a piece of chocolate, then 9 times out of 10, they'll crave some more chocolate. If you let them see a little of the world, Christian parent, then they will want more of the world. Yes, I understand that we can't stop them from seeing, but we can stop them from tasting and teach them the right way things should go so when they see it being done the wrong way, they can quickly identify it. Part of our job is to teach them about the flesh and denying the flesh in order to glorify God. We must set an environment in our homes where we keep God in and keep the world (system/way of thinking) out. They may buck, but hey, we have a rod of correction and furthermore, we must trust God as we do our part in training them up as they should go, that He will take care of the rest (even if they depart when they are older, we have placed a hook/something in them that God can use to reel them back in).
I can't end this post without going here. It's two of the biggest problems God has revealed to me and two areas I definitely know the enemy finds his way in. First, public schools that many Christians are sending their children to are unteaching them everything you teach them at home. They have long ago started pushing God out of public education. This is a big problem. I taught in public education for 4 years, and the horror!! I was utterly amazed at the problems I had with my 3rd graders my first year teaching. And it's waxing worse and worse as time passes. The second problem is, television and other forms of media. Yes, I said it and I'll say it again (loud and proud). Kids spend countless hours in front tvs, tablets, cellphones, etc... More often that not, it's even more time than in church and parents actually spending time with them and teaching them themselves. But realize, every single thing they do and watch is teaching them. As my Pastor puts it, television is telling/communicating a vision to them. Sometimes it's the seemingly most innocent shows that do the worst damage. Am I saying they shouldn't watch Tv, have access to the internet, phones, tablets, etc.. NO, BUT YOU MONITOR AND WATCH WHAT THEY ARE WATCHING LIKE THEIR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT- because it does.
P.S. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp is an awesome resource to parenting in a godly manner. Also, growing up, my parents kept my brothers and sister's and I pretty sheltered and I can honestly say, it greatly benefited me as an adult.
Love you all, be blessed.
One of the most exciting and scariest things that has happened to me in the past year is that I have became a parent. Parents are very important people, they are the backbone of a nation. Why? A nation is full of children who need guidance and the parents are the ones who steer their children in the way that they go (whether good or bad). When you realize what great task this is, it'll bring upon an excitement, but it's also normal to feel a little apprehension. It's exciting because God has entrusted this soul into your hands to lead, nurture, and guide. It's a little scary for that same reason- me, leading a soul? but that's why He gives us instructions - He tells us to raise them in the way that they should go.
One day I was talking with someone and we were having a discussion on parenting and how to raise our children. The person said to me, you can't "shelter" your child. (Buckle your seat belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride). After our conversation, I was a little unsettled because I knew in my heart what I want to do is beneficial for my child. So, I prayed and sat on it, then God gave me this revelation- as parents, WE MUST SHELTER OUR CHILDREN. I know you're thinking, that's crazy, but think about it. Shelter means to protect or shield them from something harmful.
What are we as Christian parents to protect them from? THE WORLD! So, don't believe the old adage, "don't shelter your child." Some people may say it innocently, but there is a subliminal message behind this saying. It's straight from Satan himself to get Christian parents to be passive about raising their children. Why? he is after our children, to destroy their generations, and when their adults, they'll be very few Christians who are actually taking a stand for Christ.
So how do we protect our children? We do exactly what GOD tells us to do_ but wait, what is It that He tells us to do? He tells us to raise them in THE WAY that they should go. And what way is that? GOD wants us to raise our children according to His standard. Yes, they may go astray when they are older, but when they are under our care, we are to teach them the truth of God's ways. If you go back and read Proverbs 22:6, it's placed in the middle of a group of passages/things or even ways we should be teaching our children: seek to have a good name rather than riches (v1), a prudent/smart person runs away from evil, but a simple/foolish run to it (v3), and by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life (v4). These are the type of things we should be teaching our children. The Gospel, how to forgive, treat others, how to love God, etc... The Bible is filled with awesome instructions to help raise our children throughout the Old and New Testaments.
But there is a problem. One of the things God command us to teach our children is not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that they may know what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of the Father (Rom 12:2). The problem is if we take the notion that we can't shelter our kids, then we leave room for them to be conformed to the world. Why is this so dangerous and so serious? Look out in the world today, no offense, but I think even a blind person can see (discern) that this world is CRAZY! You'll get things like, "But you can't protect them from everything," or "Don't keep them so sheltered that they don't know anything about the world." The last statement is essentially what you're saying when you say "don't shelter your kids." It's the subliminal message behind the saying. Get this though: it's exactly what the enemy want us to do-let them have a little taste the world. I say NO. It's a very BIG NO!
No one has to teach a child to steal a cookie, it's our fleshly, sinful nature. If you let your child have a piece of chocolate, then 9 times out of 10, they'll crave some more chocolate. If you let them see a little of the world, Christian parent, then they will want more of the world. Yes, I understand that we can't stop them from seeing, but we can stop them from tasting and teach them the right way things should go so when they see it being done the wrong way, they can quickly identify it. Part of our job is to teach them about the flesh and denying the flesh in order to glorify God. We must set an environment in our homes where we keep God in and keep the world (system/way of thinking) out. They may buck, but hey, we have a rod of correction and furthermore, we must trust God as we do our part in training them up as they should go, that He will take care of the rest (even if they depart when they are older, we have placed a hook/something in them that God can use to reel them back in).
I can't end this post without going here. It's two of the biggest problems God has revealed to me and two areas I definitely know the enemy finds his way in. First, public schools that many Christians are sending their children to are unteaching them everything you teach them at home. They have long ago started pushing God out of public education. This is a big problem. I taught in public education for 4 years, and the horror!! I was utterly amazed at the problems I had with my 3rd graders my first year teaching. And it's waxing worse and worse as time passes. The second problem is, television and other forms of media. Yes, I said it and I'll say it again (loud and proud). Kids spend countless hours in front tvs, tablets, cellphones, etc... More often that not, it's even more time than in church and parents actually spending time with them and teaching them themselves. But realize, every single thing they do and watch is teaching them. As my Pastor puts it, television is telling/communicating a vision to them. Sometimes it's the seemingly most innocent shows that do the worst damage. Am I saying they shouldn't watch Tv, have access to the internet, phones, tablets, etc.. NO, BUT YOU MONITOR AND WATCH WHAT THEY ARE WATCHING LIKE THEIR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT- because it does.
I was recently amongst a group of kids aging from 2-11 watching The Pacifier. It was at the end so I just looked watched for a minute or two and here's what I saw: women with their cleavage showing, lies, distrust, sneakiness, and an unmarried man and woman kissing. So you're telling me that God wants us to dress modest, but get all kids see is immodest dress, shows teaching kids how to get away with stuff and be disrespectful, but yet God says obey your parents, and the biggest, you really want them to be pure until marriage but almost everything on tv and social media shows them how to be in a (worldly) relationship and how to like a boy or girl (and now it's showing girls liking girls, boys liking boys). So we can't be surprised when we battle the world in our homes when we are the ones who are letting it in. We must look at everything we show them with a discerning eye. What we, as parents let them get ahold of is on us, we allow them access to the things that feed their souls. Yes, it's that serous. Is it controlling them? No, it's called active parenting because I realize that God placed this soul into my care and I will be held accountable for how he/she is guided. It's time out for passive Christianity parenting, and time to start sheltering our children.
P.S. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp is an awesome resource to parenting in a godly manner. Also, growing up, my parents kept my brothers and sister's and I pretty sheltered and I can honestly say, it greatly benefited me as an adult.
Love you all, be blessed.
Glory to God for this blog!
ReplyDeleteAbbie great job explaining the importance SHELTERING our kids. This makes me want to examine every are of our parenting. Why wouldn't we shelter our kids, when God shelters us?! I believe this is a blog post that every parent should read, even come back to it from time to time.