From local educators to the nation’s most powerful and influential leaders, there is one thing upon which we usually agree: Our youth are our most valuable asset. Not gold or oil, not land or weapons, but our children. While we may agree on this subject, we seldom show agreement on what we should do with them, how we should educate them, how we should prepare them for their role in this world of turmoil in which we live today.
What should our nation do? What should we do? And how should we do it? What obligations do we have to our future generations? Surely we can see the importance of this issue. Think with me:
As Parents We Owe Them
Yes, food on the table and clothes on their back, a warm bed, an education – but they need much more. Moses gave specific instruction on this very subject to parents of his generation, Deuteronomy 6. Solomon wrote, “Train up a child in the way he should go,” Proverbs 22:16. This implies that we train our children in biblical principles of ethics and morals. It also requires us to discover the child’s interests, capabilities and desires for life so that the “way he should go” and the way God wants him/her to go can work together to bring about a happy, productive, and biblical outlook on life. Who better to do that than their parents?
Love, attention, concern for their daily lives, food on the table, a place to come home to, clothes on their back – yes, all these things. But also instruction in living for Christ and all that is included in that precept. A tough job? A task that takes effort and perseverance? Yes.
Even more important, they need role models, good examples of what and who a Christian should be. Does that sound like a lot of time and effort? Of course it does, but they need and deserve it. Is that too much to ask of parents?
As Christians We Owe Them
We must provide them with the instruction they need to live as a Christian. They can learn by watching us what our vision of a Christian is. Therein is our imperative to give them an example that will enable them not only to be a Christian but also to be one who truly lives for Christ. If we fail at this point, we will have left them without the most precious gift we have to give them, and their journey on this earth will see obstacles like we faced, but without the direction and example we could have given them. In other words we will have failed in our parental responsibility and ignored our personal, our individual Christian opportunity. It is almost frightening to think of the demands that accompany being a Christian. But it is more than a demand – it is a privilege. Take a good look at your children. Consider the obstacles they will encounter in life. Think of the temptations life throws in their path. We can make it possible for those young people to face them with conviction and with spiritual resolve. Even better, we can motivate them to find ways to strengthen the souls of others they meet on life’s pathway. That, my friends, is one of the most rewarding, most satisfying results that can be found as a Christian and as a parent.
As Citizens We Owe Them
The Bible clearly states that Christians should be good citizens of our community, Romans 13:1-6, 1 Peter 2:13-17. At the time of the writing of those passages of scripture, God’s people lived under very difficult circumstances that originated from the leaders of their cities and provinces. If there was ever a time in which God would be expected to favor rebellion against an evil ruler it would likely have been in those very times. But that is not what we find. For Christians, law is to be honored and respected.
Christians have an opportunity to be a powerful influence for good. Let us
be all we can
be for the next generation. They need us today more than ever before.
