Families At Risk.....
A detail description of the physical and emotional, social and spiritual risks our family members face today could fill a small library. Temptations and deceptions are so prevalent that fewer every day are able to run the gauntlet unscathed.
Enticing Traps
While temptation is as old as the Garden of Eden, modern varieties eclipse anything the world has seen. Often attractively wrapped, the peddling of half truths and lies is a trillion dollar business today.
Wise parents start training their children early to recognize and avoid trouble. Unfortunately sin is packaged so attractively today that many if not most adults fall victim to it's enticements. Evil seems alive and well, on the rise and with a mind of it's own. Thousands of Biblical passage attest to the seriousness of the subject. We would do well to reconsider God's warnings. Here are few starting with one to the First Family prior Cain's murder of his brother Able:
"Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Genesis 4:6-7
"For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:10-12
Snares And Pitfalls
Praying Parents should be keenly aware of the growing list of risks and dangers they and their children are facing. The following represent a short list that taken alone have, are and will continue to devastate our families unless we press through to the power, provision and protection of God:
- Broken Homes and Divorce: Today's astronomical divorce rate, even among professing Christians, is leaving hundreds of millions of family members with less resistance to temptation and sin of every kind.
- Sexual Sin and Promiscuity: Epidemic in proportion and global in scope, a tsunami of lust has covered the world and our families since the 60's sexual revolution without every receding. With chastity for teens and adults out of date, a Pandora's Box of woes has unleashed a flood of woes. Worse, with Madison Avenue and Hollywood pushing sexuality through advertising and entertainment, it's been raining temptation 40 years day and night with no end in sight.
- Sensuality and Pornography: For millennia modesty was the norm with even women's swimsuits ankle length. Today we show more skin and curves in church than prostitutes were allowed to for most of human history. Without being overly Puritan, clearly we've left little to the imagination. Of course pornography present and readily available everywhere in print, video and internet all restrain has been removed. The combined effect has overturned thousands of years of morality and our families have, are and will continue suffer for it without the deliverance of God.
- Drugs and Alcohol: While usage of this and or that drug may rise and fall, the ravages of addictions have brought pain and suffering to billions. One user can devastate many who love and care for them.
- Friends and Enemies: With peer pressure and entitlement it can be hard to tell one from the other. As many parents have found out the hard way when the friends of our kids fall they often take our children with them. Worse are the vast array of enemies strategically stealing the innocence from our daughters and sons. From sexual predators to gangs their violence against the health of our families can be decimating.
- Sloth and Recklessness: While less notorious than many problems these issues are on the rise. Untreated or medicated through illegal or prescription drugs, tens of millions languish in depression and anxiety expressing itself in dozens of dangerous ways, from lethargy to life threatening behavior.
- Faithlessness and Rebellion: Failures by reason of omission and commission abound today even among believers. Biblical illiteracy, prayerlessness and spiritual apathy are the norm for parents not to mention teens and young adults. As Samson found himself powerless and easily imprisoned having succumbed to the seduction of sin, so as much as half the generation dedicated to Lord and His service are being taken captive by the Enemy.