LISA UPDIKE | GUEST

Everything is beautiful in its own way!… Never say I can’t; always say I’ll try…..If the sun doesn’t shine, create your own rainbows…..Throw kindness around like confetti….Be true to yourself….Follow your dreams….Dream big!….You can be anything you want to be…

Inspirational quotes. They’re everywhere! On little kids’ t-shirts, bumper stickers, water bottles, journal covers, and classroom walls.

They sound so witty. Clever. Like little pearls of wisdom. Good slogans by which to live your life. “Yes! I WILL follow my heart, try harder, and shoot for the stars! I can be whoever I dream I can be, and love IS LOVE!” Written in rainbow colors, with butterflies adorning the borders, this “wisdom of the world” beckons to our children.

It can be quite confusing. Sometimes these slogans can be true; other times they can be outright lies. Often they are lies hiding right next to truth, subtle in their deceit. That is what makes them so dangerous for our children. Lies parading as wisdom.

Teach the Truth

There is only one true source for wisdom, and that source is God as revealed to us in His Word. However, ever since the events of Genesis 3, we are prone to seek wisdom from other places. How can we guard our children, teaching them to discern the truth from the lie? Simply put, we must teach our children the truth. How do I know that 2+2 does not equal five? Because I was taught how to count. If you counted out two things and had two more, you kept counting. That is adding. I learned this by grouping beads. I learned by counting on my fingers. It never varies. Two things plus two more always makes a total of four. You can’t convince me that 2+2=5 just by putting it on a pretty poster. Even if all my classmates say 2+2=5, I still won’t believe it, because I KNOW the truth!

We do the same with God’s Word. We teach it to our children by rote (like we learn to count). We tell them what the Bible says. We share with them the wonderful stories. We memorize Scripture. Just like I held and manipulated those counting beads, we let our children experience and interact with what God says in His Word. This gives them a foundation of truth. They learn what kindness is, and respect, honor, and obedience. They learn about repentance and sin. They know God’s Word because we are living it with them.

Later, I learned to solve for “x” in equations. More than counting and sorting, I could apply my number sense to real world situations. I could figure out how much each hotdog cost in a pack, and how many pizzas I needed to order for a party. I can use math to figure out a bargain from a bad deal. You can’t pull one over on me!

Sifting Truth from Lies

Likewise, we teach our children to examine information presented to them in light of what they know to be true. A biblical worldview provides them with a framework of thinking so that as they receive information and messages from the world, they can filter them through this framework, sifting the truth from the lies. Corinthians 10:5 gives us an idea of how this works. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” This is no easy task! In fact, taking thoughts captive sounds a bit like war. Yep. That’s exactly what it is. A war against falsehoods taking up residence in our minds and the minds of our children. We must teach our children to be diligent and ever on guard to recognize the lies of our culture before they establish themselves as citizens in our children’s minds.

This is why we must equip our children with the Sword of Truth, the most effective weapon against this enemy. Let our homes be as truth dense as our culture is dense with deception. Memorize Scripture and the summaries of Scripture found in the great Catechisms of the Reformed faith. Share a Bible verse as a family in the morning, and read the Word before bed. When your eyes fall upon a fancy slogan, don’t just pass it by. Or when something on TV promotes ungodly principles, don’t merely turn off the TV. Instead, discuss these things with your children in light of what the Word of God says. Equip them with the skills needed to overcome.

Yes, pithy sayings and clever quotes may surrounds us, but the Holy Spirit indwells His own. Let us put on the armor of God and adorn ourselves with the wisdom of God’s Word, being faithful to instruct our children to do the same so that they will not be swept away by the current of the culture.

Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash