Back To Archive Home

Have you ever had to say no to your children about something that others may find hard to understand? Or that our children find hard to understand? What about when you feel a conviction about something that you have allowed before, but now feel you should not allow? Or when you are concerned that someone else may be insulted by our actions? Those are the times when we have to (lovingly) stand on what we feel God calling us to do. I was recently reminding a couple of teens about the verses Matthew 7:13, 14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This is a major part of our walk as Christians, as we homeschoolers know quite well. We as Christians cannot do what everyone else in the world is doing. We are called to be set apart; different.

I have noticed a disturbing trend among young Christians toward the occult. Some of the things I am talking about seem to be accepted, and even embraced by mainstream Christians today. These are times when we need to be especially aware of what we are allowing our families (and us) to expose themselves to. Sometimes the elements in the book, movie, video game, etc. seem harmless at first, but once that door is opened, and we start down that path, it whets our appetite for more, and it is difficult to get back on track by the time we realize we are off. I was recently sent an article about C.S. Lewis’ life where he talks about a time when he was exposed to the occult at a young age and he had to fight that tendency his whole life. "Lewis tells how at age 13 he abandoned his Anglican faith due to the influence of a school mistress who was involved with "Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism; the whole Anglo-American Occultist tradition." And Lewis developed a "lust" for the occult that remained with him even after he returned to Anglicanism. He said, "And that started in me something with which, on and off, I have had plenty of trouble since--the desire for the preternatural, simply as such, the passion for the Occult. Not everyone has this disease; those who have will know what I mean. I once tried to describe it in a novel. It is a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lasts." ("Surprised by Joy," Harcourt Brace, 1955, pages 58-60.)

We need to be especially sensitive now, and I would rather err on the side of caution, than danger. We need to be prayerful, and in the Word. Talk about this with your family. In the Jr High/HS CoOp class, we practice this with the students. We pick out what is right and wrong in a particular writing, as measured against the Bible. When we feel a little inkling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts about something, we need to say no to whatever it is--even when it seems small, harmless, silly, or even difficult. Those are the Hard NO’s. Our children may not understand it, they may fight it, others may not understand, but I know that the fruit of diligence is worth it in the end. So be encouraged, fight the good fight, lovingly do what you feel is right---and you may be surprised sometime to find out that the Lord has been speaking to someone else about the very same thing, and this somehow confirms it in your heart. But until then, BE STRONG AND BE BLESSED!!