photo by TheChristianAlert.org
If someone says, “God bless America,” is he a Christian?
During these election times that phrase will be tossed around quite a bit by candidates from both sides of the aisle. What does your child think when he hears that phrase used in campaign rhetoric? Is there an assumption on his part that because someone says, “God bless America,” there must be something good in that person’s character? Does it then neutralize any of the candidate’s actions to the contrary?
Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
Sometimes children can make assumptions like that. My two older sons, given to me as gifts from my husband’s first marriage, loved their music as teens. However, it was very secular and their tastes ran to some groups that had questionable lyrics and disreputable presentation. When they were approached with their choices, my sons, of course, became defensive. Everything from “It’s just music” to “But, I listen to other things, too” came out. But they both thought they finally hit upon the perfect rationale when they presented the album jacket cover, pointing to the acknowledgments.
“See, it says right here, ‘I thank the Man Upstairs for giving me this talent.’ These guys believe!”
My husband promptly turned the jacket cover over, revealing a group with in-your-face body language and accessorized by the world.
“Do you really think these guys follow Jesus?”
Children come up with assumptions about things all the time, and some of those assumptions, unless they learn otherwise, get carried over into adulthood. As our children enter into adult responsibilities, they need to have a discerning nature. Their decision making needs to be based on a biblical foundation. If they don’t know what God says about certain things, assumptions will lead them to making decisions that could prove costly.
Like voting for a candidate who says, “God bless America” but whose record clearly displays ungodly and disreputable choices.
Spend time every week in family devotion reading from the Bible. Teach your child to have times of personal devotion so he can learn the truths of God and draw closer to Him in relationship. And teach him not to put his trust in someone whose actions belie a casually tossed phrase.
Teach him the meaning of, ‘by their fruit you will recognize them.’
Do you like what you read here? Email this article to a friend by clicking on Email This at the bottom, or send them a link to the whole site so they can read all the great articles here.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment