Bible/Advice/Resources

By Summer Lane

Photo: Pixabay

Whether it’s TikTok or the latest kids cartoon, there’s no question: today’s cultural ideas and societal beliefs are being pushed on kids at a very young age. From Disney to public school, there is a huge focus on sex and sexuality, as well as pressure on social media to conform to certain political ideologies or risk being “canceled.”

How can we prepare our kids to deal with a world where peer pressure is the standard by which many form their opinions about issues around them? And this pressure isn’t just at school anymore. It’s everywhere! It’s on TV, it’s online, and it’s even present when you step foot into many corporate stores who proclaim allegiance to one political cause or another. In a nation obsessed with pressuring its people to conform or surrender, neutrality is not a safe place to live. Innocent children should always be protected, but it’s also our job as Christian parents to prepare our kids for what harsh realities they will be faced with as soon as they have a smartphone in their hand or the second they step foot on college campus.

Identifying temporary trends

How do you identify a counterfeit? By being familiar with the REAL version! The same goes for the objective truth. If your children are firmly grounded in the Biblical truth of God’s Word, it will be the standard by which they judge everything in their lives! Is it edifying? Is it life-giving? Is it God-honoring? Does it agree with the Bible or contradict it? Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Knowledge and wisdom begin by aligning oneself with the Bible and the truths therein. This makes it easy to identify cultural trends as life-giving or life-destroying.

Standing firm in love

Many Christians may mistakenly believe that it is unloving to disagree with or upset someone when they are confronted with something they know is wrong. James 4:17 says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” We can’t make up excuses for sinful behavior! As Christians, we often cannot claim ignorance –  not if we know the truth. Too many Christians today avoid drawing a firm line between their beliefs and affirming friends or family’s sins. It is not loving to affirm sin, whatever it may be.

God calls us to repentance, which is literally a turning away from identified sins and striving to be more like Christ – taking up our cross and following Him! If we look our brothers and sisters in the eye and choose to praise of affirm a known sin (whatever this sin may be), we are not helping them. We are hurting them! A 2017 article from The Gospel Coalition put it this way:

“Self-affirmation is the gospel of the American culture; we are idolaters when we make it the gospel of the Christian church. The church exists not to affirm ourselves, but to adore the King who loved us and gave himself for us when there was nothing good in us to affirm. The more we affirm ourselves, the less we adore the King for his grace. It is a mark of a Pharisee to want the church to affirm us as we are, and whether Pharisaical religion infects us through legalism or license, through ‘respectable, churchy sins’ or sexual immorality, it still kills. We cannot cordon off areas of our life and demand that God respect our individuality, whether in regards to sexual behavior, or how we spend our money, or how we engage others, or how we forgive…

The cross levels us all, but in that dirt of our despair comes deliverance. The Father runs to the prodigal. He entreats the older brother to come inside. He doesn’t affirm the prodigal in the pigsty or the older brother in his pasture of pomposity, but he does open his arms to both his sons. And that’s why, just like our Father, the church should welcome everyone and affirm no one.”

We are all image-bearers 

All men were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). God loves His children, and He is a good God who wants us to live in relationship with Him. Sin is what separates us from the Father, but Jesus Christ is the bridge that brings us back into the relationship. It is important to remember as Christians that when are ministering to those who are unsaved or living in radical immorality that these men and women are children of God, too. He made them as lovingly as He made us. Christ died for ALL.

Romans 5:8 beautifully reminds us: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ did not wait for man to perfect themselves or repent on their own when He loved him. No, Christ died for mankind BEFORE anyone even knew about the good news of the Gospel. He loved us before we were saved, and even amidst the darkest periods of our sin.

Let’s make an effort to impress upon our children just how much God LOVES everyone, and that our love for our neighbors is a wonderful thing, but that it does not equal the affirmation of worldly sin.

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Ditch the godless ‘self-esteem’ movement for a Bible-based ‘self-respect’ lifestyle, says Jill Garner:

Put down the mirror of self-esteem and embrace a healthy dose of self-respect, says Jill Garner, founder of Manners of the Heart. Jill was trained to be an interior designer, but God had other plans. A volunteer project designed to help children learn manners, self-respect, and civility became – her lifelong ministry and labor of love – to educate the hearts of children. Jill discusses the difference between humanistic self-esteem and godly self-respect. How can we teach our children to serve others rather than constantly looking to love themselves or worship their own emotional desires? The sin of pride is very dangerous, and Satan has found a way to reframe it in our society to make it look “pretty”, but it is damaging nonetheless, and its self-serving doctrine infects many modern teachings of Christianity.

Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of 30 books, including the hit Collapse Series and Resurrection Series. She is an experienced journalist and editor who is covering the White House and Trump administration. She owns Write Revolution News.

Summer is also a mom and wife who enjoys rural country living, herding cats, and gardening. She is passionate about writing on women’s issues, parenting, and politics from a theologically-grounded perspective that points readers to the good news of the gospel.

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