WHY OUR CHILDREN MUST BE TAUGHT ABOUT THE LORD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old — things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be like their ancestors — a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him.

Psalm 78:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In doing study in my current college course, I came upon a harrowing statistical reality. Studies have shown that the beliefs that young adults hold when they’re in their 20’s will be the same beliefs they will hold in their 50’s and beyond. In other words, people tend to cement their thought in a certain way and sustain it over time.

This sociological truth should concern us and call us to action in ensuring our children today are brought up with a knowledge and trust in Jesus Christ and His way of life. In other words, if we don’t teach our children about Jesus and their need for them when they’re young so that they belief and hope in Him as they enter adulthood, there’s a good chance they will never choose to believe in Him as they grow older and older.

Truly, the words of Proverbs 22:6 are more important today than ever: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

There are great benefits to following this wisdom, far beyond sociological findings. For the spiritual benefits of teaching your children about the Lord are highlighted well in the first eight verses of the 78th Psalm. Look at these words from the Psalmist and see if you can find the specific advantages from God’s Word:

My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old — things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be like their ancestors — a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him.

Why do we need to teach our children about the Lord from their earliest days? Consider these five spiritual reasons drawn from the words of the psalmist:

1. So they will place their faith in God.

People will place their faith in something when they grow older. If not God, then it will be in other things like other people or material things like money or in other mystic, false beliefs or maybe even have more faith in themselves than anything else. Unfortunately, any or all of these things will fail a person over and over and over again. But God never fails and we owe our children the benefit of knowing that from their youngest days, that the world offers nothing that they can trust in that will always be true and reliable and unfailing.

2. So they will not forget God’s deeds.

The scriptures are full of the amazing, mighty, miraculous works of God. You can’t open the scriptures without being reminded how awesome He is. As we are teaching our children to trust Him, we should be highlighting the magnificent power that God possesses and that no other power on earth even comes close to rivaling Him, as evidenced by all the great empires that came and went while Israel, God’s chosen people, endured triumphantly. God has done amazing things in the scriptures and He continues to do amazing things. We should always be talking to our children about what He has done and what He is doing.

3. So they will tell their children.

Yes, as it has been for the ages, most of the time children grow up to have children of their own. And as they raise their children, they will most often teach them the values they were taught as they were growing up. Children draw from their experience of watching their parents parent to figure out how to do it themselves. It’s true.

So if you raise your children up believing and trusting in God, knowing of His mighty deeds, your children will most probably raise their children likewise. Conversely, if you fail to show your children how important God is to them when they are younger and they will not see Him as important when they grow older and have kids of their own. And the scary part about this is that their children’s children will most probably not teach their children, and so on and so forth. If you think about it, one failure to teach children about the Lord can start a trend that extends to many future generations. We can’t afford to have that happen for in the end, we end up with a godless, faithless society. There’s that much at stake.

4. So they will keep His commands.

How will our children know what God expects of them if they don’t know Him?

As we teach our children about God and how to have faith in Him, and as we highlight His mighty deeds, we also need to focus on His commands as they are the direction by which believers should live by. Yes, the world makes rules and regulations for right living that we are to adhere to but if we meet God’s principles, we will always meet and far exceed the world’s expectations as His ways us toward a perfect righteousness only found in the Lord, a righteousness we should want every child to aspire to.

5. So they won’t repeat the mistakes of the past.

If we don’t teach our children about God, then they are destined to repeat the sins of past generations. And although it’s true that every person, children included, are sinners, that doesn’t mean that each generation can’t aspire to be greater than the one before, and when I say greater in the context of this devotion, I mean greater in righteousness and faith in God. We should teach our children highlighting the mistakes of the past and encourage them to not repeat them. Otherwise, we will never gain any ground in becoming the collective people God wants us to be.

So what if we don’t take this call seriously? What if we just continue the status quo?

It’s easy. Just reverse all five of these points and ask yourself where we’ll be.

We’ll be a people who have no trust or belief in God. We’ll put blinders on and not acknowledge His mighty works, even if they happen right before us. Knowledge of God will not be passed onto future generations. People will turn from life actions that fulfill God’s commandments. And as a result of all this and more, our societies will repeat the mistakes of past ones and in the end, meet the same demise.

For rest assured that God is not going to sit by idly while the world turns from Him and there will be a day when He will send His Son Jesus back to judge this world.

It will be the worst day ever for those who decided to not follow God in their lives, many of which were never taught about Him and thus never saw Him as a priority. The scriptures they should have been taught and given heed to spell out their demise, a fiery destruction into a lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).

Conversely, the day Jesus returns will be the best day ever for those who placed their faith and trust in Him as they receive the gift of eternal life. These believers will include a multitude that were taught about the Lord from their very youth and thus found their way out of damnation and into salvation.  

Question: Where do you want your children to end up? Blessed or cursed? Damned or saved?

It’s something you want to consider as you raise the children, God’s children that have been entrusted by Him to your care. You can’t afford to not get it right. You have to teach them about the Lord.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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