One writer wrote these words: "Protect your dress when new, and your honor from youth." And this instruction contains special wisdom for our time. Apart from external and visible beauty and cleanliness of the body, there also exists an inner world of a person, which very clearly demonstrates itself through many processes of communication with other people.
Observing the behavior of this or that person, seeing their reaction to what's happening around them, their manner of communication, their consistency and many other factors, one can very quickly determine what kind of person they are in their soul. We read in Prov. 20:11: "Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right." Maintaining spiritual and soul purity of a child is as important a part of upbringing as external hygiene and nutrition.
Everything that a child comes into contact with, what he sees, what he hears, what he thinks about, becomes his possession, which has an indelible influence on the soul and consciousness and creates a certain worldview. The very first opinion that was understood and accepted by a young mind becomes a lifelong possession of a person and can remain so throughout their entire life.
Parents' task includes the duty to get ahead of the world and fill their children's hearts with correct attitudes, opinions, knowledge, facts and proofs. We read in Prov. 18:17: "The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him." If a child's heart is filled with good concepts that have convinced him of truth and become part of his worldview, then it will be very easy for him to reject any temptations and resist all evil. We know that prevention of diseases and avoiding contact with infectious people is much better than treating what has broken your body.
Our age is very dangerous with its temptations and abundance of sinful pleasures, which so pleasantly lure into their nets that you simply don't know where to escape from this.
If you put boundaries, barriers, fences around a child, then sooner or later he will want to know what's behind them, why they're so high, whether he's in a prison of parental prohibitions. And there will come a time when your children will go out into the world and taste all its power. And all external fences will collapse and remain in memory as the childhood home.
But if these boundaries are placed inside the heart by the child himself, and he understands the importance of their presence, then these barriers will powerfully protect his heart and keep it from all evil.
The concept of good and evil is necessary for every person. They help him clearly see what is good and what is bad. But the restraining force not to do evil comes not from rules and laws, but from personal relationships with Jesus and through communication with the Heavenly Father by means of the Holy Spirit. And a person's conscience is the determining factor. Through it the Lord can influence the will and convince the heart of sin.
When teaching children good principles and forbidding them bad things, parents themselves must correspond to everything they want to see in others. If daddy teaches that playing computer games is bad, but does it himself, then such prohibitions have a strange character. It is desirable that such and other sources of temptations do not penetrate the home and family communication in any form while children are small.
Nothing makes children dependent and ignorant in knowing the world as quickly as computer and phone games. These activities develop dopamine addiction and very quickly release serotonin into the blood. This is like eating chocolate. It's tasty, quickly consumed, brings joy and pleasure, sends a satiety signal to the brain, but doesn't give the body necessary substances and blocks the frontal lobes that analyze what's happening.
If I decide that the nanny for my child should be television and phone, and at least sometimes allow these companions to occupy themselves with my children so that I can remain in peace for some time, then I should remember that later for these minutes of peace I'll have to pay with years of anxiety.
It's one thing when a child somewhere as a guest saw something or even tried something, but knows that it's unclean. In this case, you can still explain something to him and somehow convince him not to repeat this, but when he receives temptation from my hands, how can he understand that this is dangerous for the soul?
While children are small, parents need to work so that everything that contributes to their life success, spiritual growth and growth in Christ is written into their heart's operative memory.
Children love to listen to all kinds of stories and are capable of listening to them hundreds of times. If it's tiresome for you to constantly repeat and read the same thing, then record this on some information carrier and teach the child to independently choose the needed story, marking each story with a certain picture. Children will gladly listen to daddy's stories performed by him and in his absence.
But nothing can replace live communication with parents, where father and mother feel the children's mood and their interests, notice their facial expressions and emotions. During communication you can embrace the little being, kiss him, change the topic of conversation and convince him that living in peace with God is as cozy as under the parental wing. A good and tender God associates very well with good and caring parents.
Purity of soul is that place in the heart where the Holy Spirit will bring His commandments and establish them in consciousness.
Any music teacher will tell you that teaching a child who knows nothing is much better and easier than re-teaching one who knows how to play incorrectly.
All early instructions in truth, written by parents into the heart, will be fresh in memory until old age and will suggest the true path throughout life.
When a child is outside home or outside parental control, then father and mother should know what society surrounds their child, whether there's danger for him from peers, what he does and what he watches. And when meeting, be sure to ask what happened, and not scold when he tells the truth, but undertake wise explanatory conversations if negative influence was exerted.
When under parental supervision a child experiences analysis of all his actions and deeds, then it's easy for him to orient himself and distinguish good from evil later.
God helps children taught truth to keep to the right path and supports them where there's no parental influence and help.
You must fight for the child's heart purity and tirelessly watch over the growing person. The enemy of the soul won't miss any opportunity to steal, kill and destroy. But while this temptation is still in its initial stage, it's easier to deal with it than later to eradicate vices and bad character traits.
You need to think well about whether it's worth giving small children to secular educational institutions in order to peacefully do your business, rest or earn money. The world will exert its harmful influence in these institutions, and it will be ten times more difficult for parents to fight for soul purity than if the child remained at home under the influence of believing family members. Don't think that Egyptian institutions will care about saving your children. They have their own program that rejects God and gives the right to death.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Matt. 5:8; Ps. 17:26-27; 23:3-5; 50:2; 72:1; 88:12; 100:2-4; 118:9; Prov. 20:9; 22:6; Eccl. 11:9-10; Titus 2:6-8; Mic. 6:11; Rev. 22:11, in light of this lesson. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind? What did you understand from this lesson? What is purity of soul? From what age should you begin teaching a child purity of soul? Can an evil person raise a good child? Why is it necessary to monitor who your children befriend and communicate with? Why is it so important to control what information enters a child's mind? Why do many believing parents give their children to secular kindergartens? Is everything that the world offers children safe and useful? What will children choose if their mentors don't watch? Can believing parents form a pure heart in their children? What should be done to raise from your child a person worthy of Eternal Life? Do you think it's interesting for children to cooperate with parents in fighting for purity of their heart?