It’s always difficult to teach children how to make good choices. However, in today’s society, how can we help them to have morals that they can learn to live with for the rest of their lives?
Let me tell you some things about what my husband and I choose to do with our own children. Our first-born, Marc was somewhat of a precocious child. If you told him that the sky was blue, he would say to you that it was purple. While I loved that about him, I also knew that we needed to make sure this young man that we were raising could learn how to follow other people’s rules and not just make the rules he wanted to pursue. We also wanted to have a child who would be able to make good choices as he got out into the real world. Our youngest son, Alec, waited until he was a teenager when he tried our patience with some of his antics but the end result was……
I can actually tell you that we succeeded in raising young men we are very proud of! They both have excellent jobs that they enjoy. They also help out by contributing to the family’s needs while still living here at home. In addition, they each have a code that they follow. They understand the difference between right and wrong choices. How did we do that? They each were given consistent consequences that helped them to develop their own radar. Trust me, when I say that it’s never easy to guide young people into having morals in a world that increasingly tries to say that you are “anti-something” or other because of the values that you hold.
So, how do we keep to our morals in that world? You hold true to what you value in life. (Related post: Standing in the Way of Evil). Think about how your faith guides you in thinking about the world. Do you put God first and the world second or do you think of it the other way around? Trust me when I say that it makes a big difference which one you put first. I’d rather turn away from the world that puts me last and turn toward our God who puts me first. Remember that at the end of your lifetime, we all will have to go before God and answer for the choices that we’ve made in this lifetime. You can’t get around that, so think very, very carefully about where you stand so that you won’t have any regrets at the end of your life.
So, what did I learn from this? I know that it doesn’t seem like God is on our side, especially after what happened in Uvalde, Texas where innocent lives were needlessly lost. I’m not going to get into the mind of the person who did that, but I will say that only someone who is missing out on God could have pulled that trigger without a second thought.
We need to put God back in our lives. We need to think about how hatred hurts all of us and then get on our knees and ask Him for His help in healing our minds and hearts. Yes, you can also vote your conscious as well, but God is still at the root of it. Without Him? I don’t really want to contemplate what could actually happen if we don’t change course soon.
What can you gain from this? I have such peace with God even as I struggle to understand how humans can do evil in this world. We try to blame God for what humans choose to do, but I know that with God, our world becomes a much better place to live. If you want that peace that those of us who know Him do, then ask Him to heal you. Trust me. He’s the only one who can.
A Joyful Mission 