I've noticed in the past recent weeks while watching movies with my 5th grade students that they're sending messages that we may not want our children to receive. In times pass I wouldn't worry about children shows and movies because they were mostly innocent? I know some subtleties were in them but not to the degree it is now. Lately, I've seen so many programs and movements that are targeting our children. I want to remind you before I go further that our fight isn't with flesh and blood. Flesh and blood is being used in the physical but the spiritual realm of darkness is behind it pulling the strings. Our fight is with principalities and powers in high(cosmos) places. Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Children are very impressionable. They are easily led in the wrong direction because they are still learning. They are like little sponges soaking up all the information they receive from all sources. Children are not usually able to decipher when wrong messages or information is being given to them. When they trust you, they willingly accept what is being said or done. Molesters know this all too well about children and that's why they target them. Likewise, with games, television programming, Children movies (Disney, Pixar), and series are all taking advantage of the openness of our children. The worst part though is that most parents are allowing it to happen.
We are in a digital society. This is an IPad and Tablet generation. Our children are on Tik Tok, You Tube, Roblox, Instagram and Snapchat all day without supervision. Even the parents are on social media all day. Parents are allowing social media to raise their children. There are less parents everyday that check what their kid is watching and even worse who they're talking to on these forums. Look at the children in the photo above, they are outside on a beautiful day. Each child is glued to the screen of a phone when they should be playing. In addition, no adult supervision is around to see what they are doing on these phones. Let's step inside my 5th grade class. I have one girl that has watched 17 seasons of Bad Girls Club that is filled with with cursing, sex, drinking and fighting. This is why the show is famous because women are making a fool of themselves with no morals or dignity. My student who is 11 has begun to mimic what she watches and I had to talk with her about it. Two of my young ladies had Twerk pages on Instagram. I know this because my students tell me things. They give me the "Tea":) Another one of my girls had a Hip Rolling Page but she has since taken it down. My students are in group chats daily. Some students have fight pages on Instagram and Tik Tok, so they start fights so they can record and upload them. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Guess what? The parents never knew anything about it because they don't check. Did you know that God holds us responsible for our gifts that he has blessed us with? Children are very dear to God's heart. For this reason he told us exactly how to raise our children.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. For Believers, we often get discouraged when we see our children back sliding, living contrary to the way we taught them because we didn't notice "when he/she is old" This means our children will do foolish things because of their youth sometimes, it will even often look grimm but we can rest in knowing that they will eventually as they grow older revert back to the way they were trained/dedicated. The word train in Hebrew means dedicate. Dedicate means devote (time, effort, or yourself) to a particular task or purpose. This means when we are raising our children we are teaching them to devote themselves to either righteousness or wickedness. Remember the laws of the earth goes both ways. As parents we can either train them to follow wickedness or righteousness. What are you dedicating your child to? What purpose are you teaching your child to have in life? Or better yet, what is your purpose as a parent? These are serious questions we must ask ourselves as parents. The way we start our children out is the way they can end up being. What kind of citizen are you training? Are you teaching them Godly principals to live their life by? Do they even know of God and his son Jesus? Do they know anything about righteous living through your teaching verbally and in your actions? (Or) Are you teaching them to drink alcohol, smoke weed, chaos (no structure), have multiple sex partners, deal with the occult, argue, fight all the time, curse, laziness, procrastination, unhealthy eating habits, slumber, uncleanliness, bad hygiene, etc. Many wonder why their children are out of order, it's simply what you are devoting them to. You should be in control of what they are trained in, not them. Some of our children are dealing with how we trained them, family curses and a world filled with darkness without God in their lives. How can anything other than chaos (out of order) be expected of them. If you are training your child in an ungodly way, ask God to forgive you of your sins. Ask him to lead and guide you on how to train your child in his standards. Turn from the world mom/dad and turn towards God first, then begin to train/devote your child to Godly morals and values. Then watch as you begin to see a change in your child as God begin to create a new creature in you and them through repentance and being born again in through Christ.
Call To Action
Finally, remember that God's Word is extremely important when pursuing a life of righteousness. In Deuteronomy 11:19 God tells Israel to tell their children about the ways of God always...Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. We can't just sit our children in front of devices and leave them. We must take control back and evaluate what our children our learning. Parents, please think about what you want your child to become. Ask God what his intended purpose is for your children and raise them in light of that. Stop allowing media to indoctrinate your children to think about sex before they even know what it is. Stop allowing programs to teach your children witchcraft, murder and sorcery. Listen to the music they are listening to. Look up the lyrics to see what is going in your child. Spiritual Warfare is real. Don't have your child on the battlefield naked without a covering from you and also their own armor through learning the ways of God. Parents lets secure our children before it's too late. Be Blessed
