For the sake of your children, stand firm upon God’s truth

As a Christian, I am often dismayed by the moral direction in which I see our society going. This shift in moral values is not good, and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse. The challenge for believers in Christ to stand solidly on the truth of God in the midst of the shifting moral landscape of Western society has never been greater.

One casualty of our society’s value shift is seen in the lives of our children. Unless you’ve been living an extremely isolated life, you know that young people are falling for the lies of Satan. The societal situation that the apostle Paul described in Romans 1:18-32 is here. When I read Paul’s words, I see a description of the world we live in today:

“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

“24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

“26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

“28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

This is an accurate description of the kind of society we live in today. And it is interesting to me that Paul describes God’s giving over of sinners to pursue their sinful desires as a revelation of God’s wrath. Did you see that? Read the above Scripture passage again. The fact that we see sin being flaunted in our society as never before is a sign that God's wrath is already being revealed against us.

This is why, as society increasingly gives its hearty approval to that which God has condemned, it becomes increasingly important for us Christian parents to stand firm upon God’s truth. Our children need to know what God has said and we’re responsible to teach them!

Also, Christian parents must get serious about prayer. Too many Christians, I’m afraid, do not take Satan seriously and are woefully “ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11). You had better know that Satan is real. We must pray with determination against the influence of the evil one upon our children’s souls.

In light of the sad trends in our society and their malevolent effect upon children, I encourage you to read this important post by Dr. Albert Mohler: “Never in the Closet…The New Face of Homosexuality”.

And pray. Pray that God might have mercy upon us and cause His face to shine upon us in a mighty awakening, before it’s too late.