The Changes of Sin

The insidious thing about sin is that is pulls a person in with great excitement and promise for fulfillment or gratification for the flesh. It ends with a brokenness, death, and destruction. The most vulnerable among us are the very young, they have no experience dealing with such a thing, and so We, as Christian believing parents or guardians are responsible for instructing these young ones in the ways of righteousness and warning of what sinful behavior produces. Many parents want to befriend a child to the child's peril. There will be time for friendship once the child is an adult, but the relationship has to be much stricter in the formative years. These years are times of learning and trying for the child. Many will test the boundaries of the morals we live, it is a learning process. There is a recipe for raising children I read once and I'll pass it on to you. To raise a child you'll need the following: 3 cups of patience, one cup of justice, 2 cups of grace, 1 lb. of endurance, and 5 gallons of love.
There is no doubt about it, what we allow our children to be exposed to will ultimately have a hand in shaping the values they live by. How we live our lives is the largest factor, followed by the exposures we allow for our children to the things of the world around us. There is no substitute for time spent with them in the formative years. There are exceptions to the rule, but, if you keep a positive relationship with the child and expose them to a righteous environment, they will develop values based on truthfulness and not a lie, it is the only way righteousness can be restored in our's or any society. Proverbs 22:4-6 puts it this way:

 ⁴ Humility and the fear of the LORD
       bring wealth and honor and life.
 ⁵ In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,
       but he who guards his soul stays far from them.
 ⁶ Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Christians, please keep your children innocent as long as possible, allowing them to mature before having to deal with exposure to the deceitfulness of sinful behaviors. May the Lord direct us and guide us in this endeavor.