June 11
A Matter of Conscience
It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. 1 PETER 3:17
Barbara was working on her needlepoint, and I was reading the newspaper. It was any weeknight in America—just the way Norman Rockwell pictured it. At least it was until our eighth grader, Benjamin, popped his head up from behind his school-assigned book and said, "Dad, I don't think I should be reading this."
"What do you mean, buddy?" I asked.
"This story—it's got some pretty graphic details about a man and a woman in it. You know, sex!" He blushed a bit and shot a nervous glance at his mom, who nearly jabbed her finger with that sewing needle.
"Let me see that book," I said. Quickly flipping through a few pages, I could see right away why he was concerned. He was dead on. This book was explicit and graphic as it spun a romantic tale.
As it turned out, we were able to help him get an alternate assignment. After his teacher originally threatened him with a zero for not reading this particular book, we came to a meeting of the minds and were happy with the result. But nothing made us happier than seeing our son's conscience in action, knowing that at 14 he already had an acute sense of right and wrong—and the courage to choose what he knew was best.
I can promise you that living-room stories like these don't happen without lots of work on the part of parents. Lots of Scripture. Lots of prayer together.
Lots of offhand conversations, teachable moments and direct disciplinary actions.
If you're doing it right, parenthood often means being a pain to your children, interfering with what they want. But those early years of character development are so important. That's when you play the role of your children's consciences—calling them, training them, prodding them on to a higher good, helping them learn the value of refusing evil.
DISCUSS
How have you seen your children's consciences fire into action?
PRAY
Pray that the Lord will always keep your kids' consciences tender to His touch.
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June 11
You Can Make a Difference Matthew 5:14,16.
You are the light of the world....Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
One of God's primary purposes for your family is to be a light in a world of darkness. Did you know that an ordinary family can have a tremendous impact in our world? I'm reminded of the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. The French army was reeling from the onslaught of Hitler's Panzer divisions. The Dutch and Belgians had surrendered and the Allied forces were trapped in the Channel port of Dunkirk with no way to escape. Hitler's tank forces, only miles away in the hills of France, were ready to smash forward.
The Royal Navy did not have enough ships to mount a rescue. But then, as William Manchester describes in his book The Last Lion:
A strange fleet appeared: trawlers and tugs, scows and fishing sloops, lifeboats and pleasure craft, smacks and coasters...even the London Fire Brigade's fire-float Massey Shaw-all of them manned by civilian volunteers: English fathers, sailing to rescue England's exhausted, bleeding sons.
In the end, the ragtag civilian armada brought 338,682 men safe to the shores of England! Common people had made the difference.
Today there is a war being waged on the family. Our nation's marriages, specifically our children, face their own particular Dunkirk. Your family can make a difference. The nation's families hang in the balance.
The question is will there be enough common people who are willing to set sail to rescue this generation of exhausted, bleeding children of divorce and broken families? Will you let your light shine in the darkness? The value of the next generation demands it. The nation hangs in the balance of how the Church will respond to this crisis. What can you do?
Prayer:
That God will give you a spirit of outreach and a heart of concern for other families, especially the new couples who are just starting their journeys together.
Discuss: Make a list of the families you and your children touch in the course of your everyday life. Are you aware of problems in these families that your friendship and concern might help solve?
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