Exhortations and Warnings for Youth (Part 7)

XVI. Other faulty messages that are at war with God's words are the corruptions of what being a man or woman is all about. A. Our culture in general teaches boys the wrong ideas about manliness. Television and movies are particularly loud voices in this area but they are not the only ones. Public education is exerting tremendous influence upon developing males to be other than what God intends for them. 1. One message is that being a man means that one must be a mannerless lout, a discourteous badger, or a tough-guy thug who gets his way through violence, a win- at-all-costs wealth-driven cheater, a great athlete, a sports buff, a womanizer, a woman-user, a vessel into which copious amounts of beer are to be poured, and in general a slave to his own emotions and base desires. 2. Another bad message is that men should be unassertive, effeminate, incompetent, clueless floor-mats for women to walk all over. 3. Jesus Christ is the ultimate man (JOH 19:5; EPH 4:13) and He was/is none of those things. 4. Boys especially should consider Jesus Christ the supreme model to follow. We are to be conformed to His image. ROM 8:29; 1JO 3:2. a. Jesus was holy, harmless and undefiled. HEB 7:26. b. Jesus was meek, lowly; He sought not man's glory. MAT 11:29; JOH 5:44. c. Jesus was self-sacrificing. JOH 10:15; 15:13. d. Jesus desired God's will and did it. JOH 5:30; 8:29. e. Jesus was a man of authority. MAR 1:22. f. Jesus controlled His spirit. 1PE 2:22-23. g. Jesus controlled His desires. MAT 4:4. h. Jesus was a man of prayer. MAR 1:35. i. Jesus was a man of faith. HEB 2:13. 5. If godliness, brotherly kindness and charity, you will be like Jesus and be a real man. 2PE 1:5-8. you are characterized by faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, 6. A real man need not be a married man, as Jesus. Or Paul. 1CO 7:8. 7. David summed up a real man in 1KI 2:2-4. A real man: a. keeps the charge of the Lord his God. b. walks in God's ways. c. keeps God's statutes, commandments, judgments and testimonies as written. d. walks before God in truth with all his soul. B. Our culture in general teaches girls the wrong ideas about womanhood. Again, the entertainment industry is a particularly loud voice against God in this area, as is public education. 1. We are deluged with messages of the glories of female empowerment in everything from comic books to Planned Parenthood. a. Planned Parenthood (and such like) has been summed up as being about consequence-free sex for females, married or unmarried, so as to bring them up to the level of men who can have sex and walk away from its consequences (a pregnancy). (1) NOTE: Neither male nor female has the right to consequence-free sex outside of marriage. HEB 13:4. (2) Even in marriage, both male and female are never to consider a Exhortations and Warnings for Youth 12-29-13 Page 16 pregnancy as a disposable nuisance. PSA 127:3. b. Parents would do well to thoroughly investigate the likes of the Girl Scouts and not assume that the current values are the values of Grandma's Girl Scout days. 2. Our culture's message is that men and women are equal in every way. a. God says that women are “...the weaker vessel...” (1PE 3:7). b. God says that wives should submit to and obey their husbands. 1PE 3:1, 6. c. God says that a society where women rule is in trouble. ISA 3:12. d. It is much more than body parts that distinguishes men from women. 3. Our culture says that a professional career for a woman is superior to domestic life. a. God says that younger women should marry, have children and guide the house. 1TI 5:14; TIT 2:3-5. b. The older women and mothers in the church should be teaching this to the girls. c. Being a keeper at home (TIT 2:5) does not mean that you are chained to a sink. (1) The virtuous woman of PRO 31 is a model of ingenuity and industry who brought food for the family from afar (v. 14), bought a field and planted a vineyard (v. 16), and made fine linen and girdles for sale to the merchant (v. 24). (2) Though not locked inside all the time, all that she did was with an eye to her husband and household. vs. 11, 27. d. Economic or health circumstances or death of a husband may require a woman to work outside of the home. (1) What if a young widow with children has no extended family for support and there is neither an available or willing suitor? 1TI 5:1-16. (2) Such would be a case of necessity. Saints in general are to “...learn to maintain good works for necessary uses...” (TIT 3:14). (3) A learned skill set could be a prudent foresight. PRO 22:3; 19:14. (4) Special circumstances, though, are not the rule any more than David's eating of the shewbread made such eating a universal rule. MAT 12:3-4. (5) The general fate of latch-key children is witness to the importance of a mother being in the home. PRO 29:15. XVII. Another false message from our culture is the “advantage” of debt. A. debt: That which is owed or due; anything (as money, goods, or service) which one person is under obligation to pay or render to another: a. a sum of money or a material thing. B. Our entire financial system is one of debt-monetization. Our money is not based upon a commodity but rather upon an unpaid obligation. C. A credit card is really a debt card, especially if you have not already allocated funds for whatever is put on the card. D. God does not want us to be in debt. 1. Sin is called debt. LUK 11:4. 2. We are to owe no man anything. ROM 13:8. 3. You are the servant of the person to whom you owe money. PRO 22:7. 4. We are to strive for freedom, not bondage. 1CO 7:21. Exhortations and Warnings for Youth 12-29-13 Page 17 XVIII. God is very aware and considerate of children, childhood, youth and immaturity. A. Children are an heritage of the LORD. PSA 127:3. B. A sign of His blessing and favor in reviving Jerusalem was boys and girls playing in the streets. ZEC 8:5. C. It was with an eye to little children that God spared Nineveh. JON 4:11. D. It was the children of a disobedient generation that God shepherded safely to Canaan. NUM 14:31. E. Jesus even used children in the market as a parable of gospel appeals. MAT 11:16-19. F. A prophecy of Messiah's time was that “...a little child shall lead them” (ISA 11:6). 1. Jesus was such a child, a leader even in youth. ISA 9:6; LUK 2:46-52. 2. Citizenship in His kingdom is attained by child-like submission and simplicity. MAT 18:3; 11:25-26. G. Young believers are under the particular care of heaven. MAT 18:6-11. H. Wise men recognize that youth is generally a time of emotion-driven, sense-driven, carefree living. ECC 11:9; 1CO 13:11. I. Wise men also call upon youth to remember their Creator. ECC 12:1; PRO 8:17. 1. There is more to childhood and youth than carefree playing, emotion and sensuality. Mark it well: you will be known by your doings! PRO 20:11. 2. The saying, “Too soon old; too late wise” is not written in stone. A childhood that balances natural childishness with sober consideration of God and His ways tends towards successful living early in adult life. 3. The Psalmist was an instructed youth of faith. PSA 71:5, 17. 4. Leaders tend to show themselves such early in life. a. David was bold through God in youth. 1SAM 17:32-37. b. Samuel stood out as a God-fearing child. 1SAM 2:18. c. Josiah sought God early in life and was a great king. 2CH 34:1-3. d. John the Baptist began to show strength of spirit early. LUK 1:80. e. Paul's stalwart devoutness was known from his youth. ACT 26:4-5. f. Timothy knew the Scriptures as a youth. 2TI 3:15. g. It is good that youth bear the yoke of godly trust. LAM 3:25-27. 5. Forget not your good teachers' instructions, be they parents, pastor or especially the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture. PRO 5:11-13. 6. By seeking God through prayer and Scripture, hearkening unto godly counsel from your elders, not being ruled by your fears or your feelings, and trusting God to guide you, uphold you and protect you, you can face life successfully and “...shine as lights in the world” (PHIL 2:15), and not have to live with haunting memories of your childhood. PSA 25:7.