The last devotion asked “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” I shared that it is the same thing that has always been the problem: sin. The bigger issue we have to consider  is those who are responsible for the training, guiding, disciplining, and shaping of our children. Our society seems to be more concerned with being friends with our children than being parents. Parents don’t want to say no. I have heard parents say, “I don’t want to have to discipline my son.” That is the sentiment of more and more parents, and it is at the heart of the problem. Discipline is tough. It is also necessary to follow the teachings of the Bible.

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. 

Christians be willing to stand up against sin and fight against evil in our homes, whether it be the corrupt morals on television or the filth on the internet or the violence of so many video games. You need to do what is best for your children, not what will make them like you most.

Parents bear some of the blame, but I’m not advocating that old psychological cliche, “It’s all because of your mother.”  Each person is ultimately responsible for his or her actions. So whose problem is it? Everyone’s. The child, the parents, society as a whole. And the problem is what I mentioned at the beginning: Sin. It is the same thing that broke God’s heart when those first kids, Adam and Eve, decided to go against what God told them to do. Every successive generation has rebelled in like fashion. The problem continues to this day, and will continue until our Lord returns.

God has provided the solution. It was something He promised His first children after they had messed up everything. God’s solution was to take everything that is the matter with kids, all the sins of all kids everywhere and for all time, and place them on His kid, His only-begotten Son. God let His kid take the rap for the sins of all the other kids in the world. It is not just a platitude. It is real. Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the world with His perfect life and His death in our place. And after making that payment, He rose again to proclaim His victory complete. His message is that everything that is the matter with kids today or yesterday or tomorrow has been taken care of by His death and resurrection.  That is God’s Good News for all of us.

That is God’s solution, but it does not end there. When Jesus forgave that adulterous woman that the Jews wanted to stone, He did not tell her that she had been forgiven so that she could continue in her life of sin. He did not say that His forgiveness entitled her to sin some more and not worry about it. No, he told her Go, and sin no more. (KJV) or in the newer translations “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11 NIV). The response to forgiveness, to knowing what Jesus did for you by dying in your place, should be the willingness to leave sin behind and live a life of obedience to God out of gratitude. You should be so happy about being forgiven that you want to show God your thanks in the way you live.

Part of that gratitude will be leading your children to Jesus. Share with them the message of God’s love that led Him to send Jesus to pay for sin. Teach them the difference between right and wrong. Say no to them when it is in their best interests, and stick to your guns. You might even spank them from time to time to train and correct them. All of this should be done in a spirit of Christian love and concern for what is best for them. Train up a child in the way he should go means teaching them how to live as a child of God who has been forgiven for Jesus’ sake. As the Spirit works to create faith in his (or her) heart, when he is old he will not turn from it.