I have parents of young teens call me and say, “I don’t understand why my child is like he is. He wants to run with his friends. He has bad habits and no appetite for spiritual things. He listens to wrong music. He feeds on dirty movies and magazines, and I think he’s probably into other things that I don’t even know about. We’ve gone to church all his life.”
The question is not so much about what these parents did, but what appetites they allowed their children to develop. I’m thrilled if you go to church regularly, but going to church for an hour and a half on Sunday morning will not train children to refuse evil and choose good. It’s all about the appetites they develop.
Put your children on a butter and honey diet and they will know how to refuse evil and choose good. God’s way is the best way in raising children. May we have the courage, the kindness, the discipline, and the strength to go against the tide of our society and develop the right appetites for ourselves and our children.
Dr. S. M.
Davis
has been the pastor of
