‘We Can Save Our Children’: Showing Kids the Way to Godliness
By Lee Ann Mancini
It didn’t seem alarming at the time, when in 1973 — while I was still in high school — abortion became legal. I was too naive to understand the ramifications of legalizing abortion. I lived in a small town. I didn’t know anyone who had or planned to have an abortion. I was apathetic to what was going on.
Television shows also started changing. I remember the uproar over the show “Married with Children,” which aired in 1987. I was newly married and life was wonderful. I couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about. After all, it’s just a show. It’s not real life. I was apathetic to what was going on.
Could this be the problem? Are we all too apathetic?
I believe today’s Christian youth are more in tune with what is happening in the world and how it will affect their future. However, they need our help. It may seem like an insurmountable mountain to climb, but with God’s help, we can save our children and the future of Christianity.
Listen to Lee Ann Mancini address these issues on her “Raising Christian Kids” podcast:
Scripture shows us the way to godliness. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Moses gives the Israelites the commands God has given: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Do not waste precious time.
Erwin Lutzer exclaims, “Years ago, archeologists found grain buried in the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Incredibly, when they planted the seeds and exposed them to both water and sunshine, they grew! For some 4,000 years, these seeds gave no evidence of life, but under the right conditions, the life that was dormant grew.”
It’s never, ever too late! What can we do? It starts with God’s word, as always. Psalm 78:4,5,6, call us to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and his wonders he has done…teach our children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”
What do Samuel, Jeremiah, David, Paul, and Timothy have in common? They were taught from the womb! They had a solid foundation before they became adults. We are to prepare the soil from the womb to about age three. Then we are to plant the seeds into this rich soil from age four and solidify the foundation by age ten. This will give our children deep, strong foundational roots in Christ that will last their lifetime. They will be able to stand strong in their faith. They will be like Christian salmon swimming against the strongest anti-Christian current. I share how we can accomplish this in my podcast Raising Christian Kids, which you can find on the largest Christian podcast platform, Edifi.app, and all major podcast platforms.
God’s word says, “Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16 NLT). In Corinth, they had hot springs, cold springs, and lukewarm springs. Coldwater was beneficial for inflammation. Hot water was beneficial for pain relief. Lukewarm was germ-infested water and was not only unbeneficial but could cause death.
Lukewarm Christians contribute to the death of Christianity. Let that sink in.
Waiting or procrastinating can cause dire lifelong and eternal consequences. So, get your tools ready and start planting the future harvest. Remember, with God, all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26). That means everything is possible, and it’s never too late until you take your last breath. It takes work, hard work. It means no longer sitting on the sidelines being apathetic. It means being committed, impassioned, fervent, zealous, motivated, even hot-blooded.
Christ died for you, surely you can fight for Him and for your children!
Erwin W. Lutzer, How to Break a Stubborn Habit (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers 2017), 78.