Never Let Your Guard Down

Parents who choose to home school their children can sometimes be a little over-protective. I know this because I am one of them. It is not a bad thing. There are many children out there that could benefit from more protection from their parents. Whether it’s guarding every morsel they put in their mouth, every word they read, every person they meet, we want to make sure our children are protected from the bad germs, chemicals, behaviors, evil thoughts, and humanistic teachings that the world tries to lure them (and us) toward. It can be exhausting. It is a relief to know that there are plenty of parents out there wanting the same thing for their children so, surely, when we are among those of like passions, we can relax a little and let our guard down.

Never let your guard down. Peter tells us: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) While it will not affect your child’s eternal destination if he doesn’t sanitize his hands before he eats the preservative laden snack his friend shares with him, it can be a serious matter when your child is introduced to teachings that are not of God.

Curriculum labeled “Christian”, a book that is written by a trusted author, a class taught by someone with good morals — even claiming to be a Christian. All of these seem harmless. Any parent should be able to rely on others at some point to help them make decisions about raising their child, right? As Peter said, “Be alert…” The devil is prowling around. He’s waiting for that weak link in your armor. He’s looking for the moment that you relax and let your guard down. Then, he will attack as a lion seeks out his prey. What a vivid picture Peter gives to warn us about the dangers of letting our guard down.

What are parents to do? There aren’t enough hours in the day to fully protect our children from every danger. This is where parenting can be difficult. There are things we can do but they all take time and effort on our part. They require us to do our homework. As the old saying goes: look before you leap.

I will assume the obvious– that any parent reading this believes in God, prayer and the Bible. There are some other things that every parent can do. Here are some suggestions to help the God fearing parent protect his/her child:

Become informed:  Don’t expect someone else to do your thinking for you.  These are your children — your gifts handed to you by God — you must become informed about every aspect of raising them.  Whatever you get your children involved in — become informed about it.  Don’t be surprised about the costs involved, the time commitment involved.  Consider if this activity, curriculum, book, etc will fit into your family’s lifestyle and follows God’s plan.  Ask yourself: Will this help my child serve God?  Will it hinder my child’s service to God?

Never assume someone knows more than you do: A lot of people talk a lot about their knowledge and ideas. Just because someone is loudest, does not mean they are smartest.

Ask questions:  Before you buy that curriculum, read that book or sign up for that class, ask questions.  Lots of them.  You need to know what the agenda is.  Everyone has an agenda.  The publisher has an agenda.  The author has an agenda.  The teacher has an agenda.  Find out what that is and make sure that it agrees with what you read in the Bible.

Get involved:  God-fearing parents who send their children to public school understand this.  You can’t just drop them off at the door and expect things to go well.  Get involved so you can see for yourself what is going on, what is being taught.  Read the book before you hand it to your child or read it to your child. If your child is interested in 4-H or Scouts or a co-op or even my orchestra, make sure that the adult in charge is willing to have you there.  If not, look somewhere else for some other activity.  You may not have to be there each and every time but the adult in charge should welcome you to stay and observe or even get involved at anytime.

Surround yourself with successful people:   This has long been the advice on how to succeed in life.   Whatever you want to succeed in, find people that have your same values and people that have already succeeded in doing what you are striving to do.   Find someone whose grown children are like what you would like your children to be.  Seek their advice, listen to their admonitions.

Teach children the truth:  Truth is found within God’s word.  Everything else must be suspect.  Surround your child with God’s word.  Not a watered down version of God’s word.  Not just a portion of God’s word.  Make sure that your child knows that God is real, that His word is inspired by Him, that we will be judged by His word and eventually be rewarded with eternity in Heaven or punished with eternity in Hell.  Give your child the confidence in God’s word that will enable him to eventually see through the false teachings and watered down messages that some men like to tickle our ears with.

Don’t expect the child to do the parent’s work:  Even if your child is well grounded in the Bible and has a strong faith in God, he does not have the experience and wisdom to discern where the devil might be lurking.  A thought laid out in a book or a word said by an adult may seem fine on the surface but after comparing it with the Word of God may be discovered to be false teaching.  Children do not have the experience or the wisdom necessary to discern these false teachings sprinkled amongst truth.  That’s your job.

While this article is directed mainly to home school parents, it is true for parents that choose other methods to educate their children.  Our love for our children and our desire to please God does not change just because of our education choice.  We all must never let our guard down.

It can’t be said enough: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)