Ten Things I Want My Kid to Know

by Wilson Adams

Introduction

It has never been more difficult in the history of our country to raise up God-fearing children than it is today.  The 21st century world is a moral minefield for families. For example,

  1. When birth control is distributed in government schools without parental permission...

  2. When youth music celebrates murder, suicide and gang violence...

  3. When guns have replaced drugs as the #1 problem facing school administrators...

  4. When personal computers bring sexual predators, perverts and pornographers into your home...

You can bet someone's values are prevailing -- and they aren't yours!

If you are a parent, you are in for the fight of your life!

Our kids are the biggest market ("target") in the world.   Everyone from MTV to corporate America seeks to sell them their products and in the process they are sold something else -- their values.

"At MTV, we don't shoot for fourteen-year-olds.  We own them!"
Bob Pitman, Chairman, MTV

  1. HOME IS WHERE IT HAPPENS!

  1. Home Schooling is not a new phenomena (see Deut. 6:4-9).  It is where education begins and where our children must learn the values which will take them through life.  As parents, it is our God-given responsibility.  Be alert to the battle!

  2. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children..." Matt. 7:11.  It is natural for parents to give gifts to their children.  There is nothing wrong and everything right with that.  However, I must wonder about the choices we often make.  When our children look back on their childhood, what will be the gifts they remember?  Hopefully it will be the kind of gifts that can't be bought at the Mall or charged on a VISA card.  Hopefully it will be the type that lasts.

  1. THINGS THEY NEED TO KNOW
  1. They Are A Special Creation of God.  Everything I hope to teach them rests upon this vital and basic truth: GOD IS! AND GOD CREATED THE WORLD! AND GOD CREATED THEM JUST THE WAY THEY ARE! (Psa. 139:14).  Our children will suffer enough disappointments and defeats in life; enough people who will doubt them...  They MUST know that when life gets hard -- that they are here for a reason and that God loves them.

If they don't learn it from us (parents) - then whom?
If they don't learn it now - then when?

Bumper Sticker:
"God made me and He don't make no junk!"

  1. Important Things Can't Be Bought.  We suffer from "AFFLUENZA" -- the tendency to turn the "good life" into the "goods" life.  Materialism and Commercialism is everywhere... and our kids are affected!

  1. Your kids don't have to have everything!  The quickest way to ruin your children and set them up for a lifetime of failure, laziness, and shiftless irresponsibility, is to give them everything.  DON'T DO IT!

  2. Just as tragic as those who are physically poor are those who are led to believe that money equates with happiness (Luke 12:15)

  1. They are Loved Unconditionally.  Left to grow up in a "Day-Care World", many children are starved for parents who will provide them with security and love.  This gift will always be a cherished memory.

  1. That Choices Have Consequences.  Our kids hear much about "choices" and little about consequences.  Parents: that is YOUR responsibility! (Numbers 32:23)
  1. There is Right and Wrong.  Society may advocate moral relativism and toleration (do whatever you want to do and do not condemn anyone else for anything) but the Bible says something entirely different.  There is RIGHT (Eph. 6:1) and there is WRONG (1 Peter 3:17).  Our kids must get back to the basics of the Word of God.

"What Moses brought down from the mountain was not the Ten Suggestions..."

  1. Courage is a Must! Because peer pressure is an awesome force, our children must be taught to have the courage to stand -- and stand alone if they must.  2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Tim. 4:12

  1. Human Life is Sacred. Look no further to the roots of violence than to the womb.  Truly if life is not safe there, it isn't safe anywhere.   Human life is a holy gift from God. (Psa. 139)

  2. Hard Work is Worth It. "If anyone will not work, neither let him eat" (2 Thess. 3:10).  Col. 3:22-24 spells out four principles for "work".  They are:

  1. Have Integrity on the job! vs. 22

  2. Do your BEST! vs. 23

  3. Know for whom you are working, vs. 24

  4. Don't worry about everyone else, vs. 25

We must teach our teenagers the value of responsible work. They must be taught to:

  1. Show up every day.
  2. Make a commitment to quality.
  3. Do more than expected.

  1. Marriage is for Life.  God intends for marriage to be PERMANENT (Rom 7:2).

  1. God Comes First, Matthew 6:33; Ecc. 12:13-14, 1

Is HE FIRST in your life?

What kind of gifts are you giving your children?
Will they stand the test of time?
Will they last?

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