The Christian Home
What Young People Really Need!

Have you listened to the media? How about the politicians? Everyone seems to have an answer- “This is what young people need...” Various “studies” have been made -- “We need to increase spending on education. They need to be taught about gun safety.” On and on. Ask yourself the question: “What do young people really need?” Do they really need more education about sex, guns, and drugs? Or perhaps, are there greater needs? Since God created man, could He possibly have some ideas of what young people really need?

1. Young people really need a Mom and a Dad! Of course, we know that they need a Mom and a Dad to come into this world. So why do so many think that they do not need a Mom and a Dad to sustain life in this world? Was it just an accident that the first children had a Mom and a Dad? Notice from the very beginning of time that before one was married he was “joined” to a Mom and a Dad (Gen. 2:24). In Ephesians 6:2 Paul said, “Honour thy father and thy mother.” God’s design for the family was for children to have a Mom and a Dad.

2. Young people really need a Mom and a Dad who are involved in their lives and concerned about what is happening with them! How unfortunate that some parents are so concerned about their own lives and career advancement that they do not even know what is happening in the lives of their own children! Think about the four “settings” mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:7, “when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” How many parents can say that they are actively involved in their children's lives at all four of these times? Parents, take advantage of the gift that God has placed in your hand and get involved in their life!

3. Young people really need a Mom and a Dad who teach the Bible to them and pray with them! Notice Deuteronomy 6 again, “These words, which I command thee this day...thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy

children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deut. 6:6-7). “Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Parents have been given the primary responsibility for the spiritual training and development of their children. Parents who do not teach their children and pray with them should not be surprised when their children “depart from it” (Prov. 22:6)

4. Young people really need a Mom and a Dad who discipline them! What? Is that not against the law now? Not quite! It is especially not against the law of God. Notice the admonition given to parents in Proverbs: “he who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly” (13:24 NKJV); “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying” (19:18); “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die” (23:13). Discipline comes in many shapes and sizes. It is not wrong to discipline your child. But it is wrong to discipline a child and fail to teach that child that actions have consequences. The child must be taught that punishment comes as result of wrongdoing. Ultimately, the purpose of disciplining a child is to “deliver his soul from hell” (Prov. 23:14). Discipline is not mean!

5. Young people really need a Mom and Dad who will emphasize the supreme importance of the church and demonstrate its importance by bringing their child to every worship, every Bible study, and even every church activity! Parents, if you want your children to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then you must make an obvious effort to do so in your own life. Children will learn more by your example than they will by your instruction. If your example has them sitting in the pew every time the doors are open, then they will learn the supreme importance of the Lord and His church.

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