In the moral climate of our day, parents find themselves struggling with decisions about when and how to limit their children’s exposure to evil people. On the one hand, if we shield our children from every possible negative influence, how will they learn to deal with such later on in life? On the other hand, if we compromise our values in order for our children to be accepted by their peers, what are we teaching them? This is a matter requiring prayerful consideration and intentional response so that our children will be equipped to make good decisions when choosing the friends with whom they associate.
Even as toddlers, children begin absorbing the teaching and example of their parents. Teaching, especially at an early age, needs to be simple and to the point. We didn’t smoke cigarettes and we didn’t want our children to take up that sinful habit. Putting it into a Christian context, we taught our children that, if they love Jesus, they will not smoke cigarettes. At age four or five, one of our sons, picked up the smell of cigarette smoke, stood up on the bench at McDonald’s, and leaned over the top, pointing at those who were smoking in the next booth, and loudly proclaimed, “They don’t love Jesus!” Were we embarrassed? Yes. But, so far as we know, that child has never smoked a cigarette.
Things get more difficult as children enter into their teens. But the principles caught early in life will help, especially when modeled by parents. Parents need to surround themselves with good influences. Faithfully assembling with the church and actively participating in church activities will provide good influences, not only for the children, but for the parents as well.
But, even in the best of circumstances, the time will come when our children will have to choose whether to stand alone or surrender their values in order to gain the acceptance of others. Now is the time to teach our children the value of standing alone with God. The Bible is full of examples showing how God works among “the faithful few.” The majority is never a safe guide for making moral or spiritual decisions (Mt. 7:13-14; Ex. 23:2). The heroes of faith we cherish are men, women, and young people who made the decision to stand alone with God rather than surrender their principles and gain the approval of the world. These lessons greatly reinforce parental instruction and should be diligently and repeatedly taught to our children.
In the end, it may not be the things we teach, but the things we do not teach that become our deepest regret. Solomon diligently warned his son about evil associations, saying, “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on” (Prov. 4:14-15). One cannot help but wonder if things might have turned out differently in the life of his son, Rehoboam, had Solomon followed his own advice and turned away from evil associations. In a world so filled with darkness, Christian parents must be willing to stand alone, if necessary, never surrendering to the world’s pressure to conform. Only then, will we be fully equipped to teach our children to follow God. May God richly bless each of us as we both teach and pursue the path of righteousness.