The Bible has much to say about child care. God meant for children to be cared for physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in a loving, caring family environment. He meant for the parents to leave an inheritance to their children. He meant for the children to grow up into responsible citizens that would bless their present generation and generations to come. Here are some highlights that would do us good to take heed to in this day of the deterioration of our families.
There is such a thing as family honor. The father was to be the spiritual leader in the home. The mother was to be the caregiver. The children were to be the students. The children were to learn by precept and example. The family was to be linked with the church and the community. God was to be number one in everything they did in word and deed.
If family honor is not enforced with a spirit of love and good will, here are some natural outcomes:
1. The children could get in the wrong crowd and become rebels toward their God and their society.
2. The parents could be a bad example to their children and cause great confusion in the home.
3. The children could develop an irresponsible lifestyle that is destructive to themselves and others.
4. The family could be defiant to the authority of God and their spiritual and political leaders.
5. The children that are not taught moral values will probably degenerate into immoral adults.
6. If we give children everything they want, they may become self-seeking adults.
7. When children are expected to be perfect in everything, they most likely will rebel.
8. If children’s bad behaviors are not corrected through proper discipline, they will self-destruct.
9. When children are not given proper discipline, they may want to blame others for their shortcomings.
10. If children are not brought up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord,” they will fall into many destructive things-like drug abuse, spiritual darkness, ungodly lifestyles, etc.
In a word, if we do not guide our family according to Christian principles, our nation will continue to self-destruct.
We have done our children and our society a great disservice when we allowed our Christian values to be sown to the winds of change by those who hate God. You see, we are not an “island” to ourselves. What happens in your family is going to affect mine. It is going to influence your neighbor, your country and your world. Because of this, our society has a right and duty to demand every person (citizen or alien) who is on our grounds to live according to the “Golden Rule” and The Ten Commandments as stated in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. This includes honoring the triune Lord God of Glory as our Creator and Redeemer. It means loving “God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.” It demands that we “love our neighbor as ourselves” and that we respect our God-honoring spiritual leaders as men and women of God. This will bring us back to our Bible and its absolute values of right and wrong.
We in the United States of America are greatly blessed. Our Founding Fathers gave us a Christian heritage and a Republican form of government based on The Ten Commandments.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says, “And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in our heart: And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets before your eyes. And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.” See also Deuteronomy 11:18-21. This not a suggestion to a select few. This is the glue that holds societies together.
Proverbs 22:6a tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go.” Children were not allowed to choose a path that was destructive to themselves, their family or their society. If they rebelled, they were disciplined. If they continued to rebel, they were judged.
Fathers were commanded to not “provoke” their children “to wrath” but rather they were to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (See Ephesians 6:4.)
1 Timothy 5:8 tells us if we do not provide for our families, we have “denied the faith” and are worse than a barbarian. Fathers are to provide for their families. The state and our community does not have this obligation. If people are “down and out,” the Christian thing to do is provide for them until they get back on their feet. This responsibility falls to the church, not to the government.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:6 that it would be better for a person to have a millstone tied on their neck and thrown into the sea than to “offend” a child that “believes” in Him. This would indicate we should help our children to come to God’s redeeming grace at a young age. This will keep them from a host of problems in their older years.
Psalm 106:36-38 says, “And they served their idols: which were a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.” Compare Micah 6:7. This would strike at the very roots of our abortion practices. See Ezekiel, chapters 20 and 23.
This is only a summary of God’s care for children and their families. Anyone who attempts to change God’s laws to cater to men and women of corrupt minds is not only an enemy of God, but is also an enemy of our children. They are not only abusing our children, they are also abusing us.
What do I say? It is rather obvious that abused children grow up into adults that become tyrants and social misfits. The Bible puts it this way. “When the righteous rule, the people rejoice. When the wicked rule, the people mourn.” The only way we can have stable families in a stable society is to have well-cared for children. The greatest abuse of children is to corrupt their hearts and minds through ungodly rule and school.
