Like it or not, we’re living in the “Information Age.” We’re bombarded with tidbits everywhere we go, aren’t we?
An update here.
A newsflash there.
A weather alert now.
Wait, here’s a status change!
Google and Pinterest, smart phones and Amazon.
It’s nearly impossible to escape the deluge.
And all this information can be a good thing as long as it’s based in truth.
Unfortunately, all too often, that isn’t the case. Our culture is saturated with lies. And guess what? Unless we know the truth, we won’t recognize the lies.
And the same goes for our impressionable children. Perhaps even more so.
That’s why it’s critical that we teach God’s Word to them diligently. Because the Bible, after all, is the ultimate source of truth. It should be the plumb line against which we compare all of the information coming our way.
Common lies of our culture
LIE #1 — Follow your heart. From Disney princesses to teen sitcoms to popular music, this lie is heralded as the key to good decision-making in life.
TRUTH: Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” The heart is perhaps the very worst place to turn when we’re uncertain. Feelings are fleeting. “But the Word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25).
LIE #2 — Independence is the ultimate prize. This one is so subtle. We refer to kids’ post-high school years as the time they’ll be “on their own.” We tell them they’ll have to “make their own decisions.” We say things like, “As long as you’re under my roof, you’ll obey my rules.” And though I understand where these well-intentioned phrases come from, I fear they’re sending a subtle message to our kids that the life principles taught in a Christian home somehow have an expiration date.
TRUTH: Psalm 139:7-10 – “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
This passage reminds us that even when children leave the protective umbrella of their parents’ authority, they are never away from God’s authority. If we want our children to view God as their Rock, their Fortress, their Deliverer, their Refuge, and their Shepherd, perhaps we should carefully guard against phrases that imply they’ll one day be “on their own.” God forbid my children are ever on their own! I long for them to be always with Him.
LIE #3 — Beauty is a priority. This lie is so pervasive and so obvious, I don’t even think any commentary is needed. But our application of the truth might just be lacking.
TRUTH: Proverbs 31:30 – “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Many of us know this truth. We also know Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 3 that we should focus our time and attention on our inner beauty rather than our external beauty.
But what does reality reveal about our true beliefs? Do we spend more time perfecting and preening the external than we do pondering and purifying the internal? The way we spend our time reveals much about our true priorities. And it sends strong messages to our children, who are well aware of how Mom spends her time…and how she doesn’t.
LIE #4 — We’ll be happy when we learn to love ourselves. Some have even used Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” as a statement supporting this idea. But Jesus wasn’t commanding us to love ourselves. He was commanding us to love our neighbors in the same way we already love ourselves. Self-love is our natural inclination. The fact that we feed, clothe, care for, and indulge ourselves is proof of this self-love.
TRUTH: Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Yes, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are God’s cherished creation, and He loves each of us so much that He sent His Son to redeem us back to Himself. Every individual is dearly loved by Him, and we find happiness in accepting His love for us, and in returning it back to Him in a life of service and love for others.
What other lies have you detected in our culture? How do you counteract commonly believed lies in the lives of your children?
*This article was originally posted by Jennifer Clarke at UpsideDownHomeschooling.com. It has been transferred here for archival purposes.
I love how you give the truth to dispell each of these lies, that’s so important! This is a great list too, especially #1! I’m so glad you wrote about that, the heart is surely decietful!
To go with #2, I heard Craig Groeschel once say that instead of training our kids to be independent, we should be training them to transfer their dependence off of us and onto God. I love that.
I completely agree, Tiffany! That’s the perfect way of looking at a parent’s calling. Thank you for sharing it with me!
Jennifer, you are so right that the world is tearing into our homes at warp speed, which is part of why we decided to homeschool for now. If we homeschool her, we can limit how much of the world that comes into her life. I’m trying to teach her from the start that her identity is as a child of God first, then mine because she can always find her peace and love in Christ no matter what. I wish I had known how to find my identity in Him so much earlier.
Hi, Jennifer! I agree with you – the more concentrated time we can invest in our young children, the better! What a precious gift it is, to teacher your daughter about her identity in Christ. Thank you for reading, and for saying hello!
Thank you Jennifer! As I speak, I struggle with an adult child who ,though raised in the Lord, has turned his back on not just his upbringing, but also on my husband and myself. These truths sure would have come in handy a few years back. I will pass the pin along to friends with young ones who this will definitely benefit. Thank you so much for being a woman of Christ and sharing what evidently is divine knowledge imparted to you by our Father. Bkessings
Patti, your kindness encourages me and humbles me. I’m glad this post resonated with you, but I’m sorry to hear of your son’s drifting. Thank you for your testimony of raising him in the Lord, and I pray and claim for him right now that he will return to Him. I’ve seen many wayward young adults do just that. I have every confidence that God is pursuing him persistently, because that’s the kind of God He is. Praying Psalm 3:3 for you – that the Lord would be a shield about you and the Lifter of your head.
Great post, Jennifer. I so agree with all of your points, and they are definitely popular misconceptions in our culture. Thanks for sharing and for putting it on Bible Love Notes group board. I appreciate your pins.
Gail
Hi, Gail! It’s always a pleasure to hear from you. I appreciate your commitment to biblical truth, and I enjoy having you as a co-laborer.
such truth here!!
Hello, Grace! Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to share.
This is a great list but I have a slight quibble with number 4. While we’re all inclined to protect our best interests, there are many people who don’t REALLY love themselves. Their self condemnation and self hatred blocks a truly fulfilling relationship with God and others. So in that way, you do have to live yourself (see yourself as God does) to experience happiness.
Thank you for this post! Very thought provoking.
Hello, Shay, and welcome! Thank you so much for reading, and for sharing your thoughts about this post. As to lie number four, perhaps we’re defining “true self-love” differently. I reject our culture’s idea that I need to love myself because I’m inherently strong and beautiful and good. I’ve never found a Scripture to support this idea, and it’s not my personal experience, either. The fact that God loves me has nothing to do with how beautiful and good I am; it only reflects how beautiful and good HE is. I believe we find our proper identity in Christ not in attempting to love ourselves, but in falling more in love with a God who loves us in spite of ourselves. So I believe that the key is to claim His love for us, and to never let it go.
Great post! I love each of these!
Hello, Virginia, and welcome! Thank you for your encouragement. 🙂 I’m glad this post resonated with you!
Curious that gay persons will frequently say that they accept and love themselves the way they are. I am not sure how to counter that thought. I hope that their eyes be opened and the truth be revealed to them while they are still living on this planet. Lord knows I had to have a lot of truth revealed to myself, and it is not always an easy pill to swallow. The truth does indeed sometimes hurt.
Hi, Brandy! You’re right – many talk of love and acceptance in the world with regard to all kinds of sins, because they are blinded by Satan. May Christians follow in our Savior’s footsteps, loving people sacrificially and unconditionally, never condemning but also never sugar-coating the dangers of sin. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here!
This is ridiculous! God forgives all. Even judgment people. Teaching children to be responsible and independent is important.
Hi, Lulu! I don’t deny that it’s important to teach children to be responsible; of course that’s true. But much of our modern concept of “independence” is far from biblical.
While God is willing to forgive all, His forgiveness is contingent on our repentance (I John 1:9).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here!
Hi! Thanks for this post~Regarding #2, I agree that we want our grown children to always depend on God as their guide. However, I do think that they are still ultimately the ones who have to get themselves up and going everyday, take care of their daily needs, and know how to function as adults. We pray that they always know that Christ dwells within their hearts to guide them.
Also, just a quick note about forgiveness~the beauty of The Gospel is that when we repent and accept Christ as our savior, we no longer have to keep a running tally of our sins. Jesus’ finished work on the cross cleansed us and gave us new heart. Payment was made IN FULL for our sins. We don’t have to be in a cycle of ongoing repentance. We could never repent enough, and praise be to God that this impossible task is lifted off us by Christ’s shed blood. Although we still sin, it never feels good or satisfying to the Christian. 😊
Hello, and thank you for reading this post and for taking the time to share your thoughts. Concerning what you shared about #2, I don’t disagree, which is why I mentioned that I understand where these well-intentioned phrases come from, but that our children might infer subtle messages from our vocabulary (not to mention the influence of our independence-driven culture).
As to your point about repentance, it occurs to me that we may be defining it differently; the context of your remarks causes me to wonder whether you’re referring instead to penance, which is quite different from repentance. Repentance is simply a change of mind, and as long as we are alive in our flesh on earth, we will struggle against the “old man” of our sinful nature. Therefore it’s necessary for us to continue confessing our sin and “changing our mind” away from it, reclaiming instead the mind of Christ. Paul’s comments to the Corinthian church about repentance (2 Corinthians 7) seem quite relevant to us today. Once we belong to God, our relationship with Him is unchanging in spite of our sin (John 10:28-30). But our fellowship with Him can be broken when we are living in unrepentant sin (1 John 1:6). Is there a particular Scripture that you believe teaches us to stop repenting after we are saved?