Are You Fit To Be Tied Part Vi

We want to preach about children in our marriage. Children can be a blessing, or they can cause much pain. Usually the outcome is directly affected by how much the parents obey God's Word in raising them.

Illus: One lady that had three teenagers was asked, "If you had it to do all over again, would you have children again?" She said, "Yes, I would, but not the same ones."

Illus: One man said, "We spend half of our lives fighting with our parents, and the other half fighting with our children."

Although these are meant to be humorous, they border on reality for a lot of folks. We need to consider at least two things about children, for God had something very precious in mind when He designed the family to include children. We need to consider...

1. The children that are born into non-Christian homes.

We could quote all kinds of horrendous statistics, that would send cold chills up and down our spines, on children who are born into homes where no one has any inclination of why God placed them on this earth. Why? The parents lived their lives without God, and the children are carbon copies of those parents, and those homes are in a mess spiritually, and usually in every other way. For example:

-4 out of 10 children live in broken homes.

-10 million children are infected with some kind of venereal disease.

-7 out of 10 accidents with fatalities among teens, are alcohol related.

-6 out of 10 teenagers believe in astrology.

Why? Their parents have not taught them to believe in God, and they grab at anything they can to place their faith in.

-Pregnancy among teenagers is among the top problems of our nation.

-Crime among teenagers is a serious problem.

Are you surprised? Why? What can one expect when parents raise children without God? What are we doing to help get the gospel to them. Some of us have been very vocal about prayer being taken out of schools, but we are not concerned in the slightest that GOD, PRAYER, AND the BIBLE have long been gone from many of the homes across America. Children born into a Godless family are at a tremendous disadvantage. They have parents, the most powerful influence in their lives, leading them straight to a Christ-less eternity. The last thing they want to hear is what God's Word says, so they will not attend God's house to hear It. We could spend a lot of time talking about the underprivileged children born into homes like that, but let us move on, and consider...

2. The children that are born into Christian homes. You are here today, and can hear what God's Word, says to you about child rearing. You chose not to stay home because you recognize you need God in your marriage, and you need God to show you what to do as you raise your children. What does the Bible say to you who care? It has much to say to us! First, the Bible teaches us to...

I. COMMENCE EARLY. Proverb 22:5, "Train up a child in

the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Why begin teaching Bible principles early? Because the child is born with a sinful nature. You may look at that sweet, innocent child and think it does not know a thing about sin, but the fact is, sin comes as natural to that child as it does to you, if you do not let the Holy Spirit constantly check you. Soon after a child is born, the spirit of SELFISHNESS AND DECEPTION begins to raise its ugly head! When that baby is warm, dry, and full and is nearby so you can speak to it and love it, why do you suppose it still cries the way it does? Mom can have a dozen things she needs to be doing, but when that little fellow decides things are not just the way he wants them to be, he starts bellowing like he has never had any attention in his life. He is wanting someone to pick him up, and give him undivided attention. If a few light sniffles don't get the results he wants, he soon learns to bellow out as if in mortal pain. That almost always gets some attention. Why do you suppose as he grows a little older he "plays" his mom against his dad, and his dad against his mom? It doesn't take a child long to learn that if mom and dad agree, then he does not stand a chance of getting his way. A child is born into sin and the devil wastes no time. SELFISHNESS and DECEPTION come along with the package. The wise parents realize, that from the time that child is born, they must begin saturating it with God's Word, and Godly examples, and when the child displays sinful tendencies, they must be discouraged and stopped as soon as they begin. They need God's help!