Daily Devotion

November 25, 2016

The father/son talk (1)


“My son, hear the instruction of your father.”               Pr 1:8 NKJV

In Proverbs the words my son are used twenty-three times, and the word father is used nineteen times. So it’s a letter from a father to his son. It’s also a letter from a father to other fathers, about being a good father. It not only teaches a father how to lead his children, but how to live before them. Interestingly, the letter contains a lot of warnings about the misuse of sex and the heartache it can bring. We’ve all heard the story of the twelve-year-old boy whose dad said, “Son, don’t you think it’s time we had a talk about sex?” The little guy said, “Sure, Dad. What do you want to know?” The sad truth is that today our children are getting their sex education in school, from their friends, from the Internet, and from experimentation—but not at home. Solomon writes, “Why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman?” (Pr 5:20 NKJV). Sex education is the answer—as long as it involves the right teacher, the right classroom, and the right curriculum. And the right teacher is you, Dad; the right classroom is your home; and the right curriculum is the Bible. A study of 10,000 high school students revealed that strong parental values and supervision have the most significant effect on a teen’s sexual activity. Parents who had a close relationship with their daughters and supervised their schoolwork and activities, were able to curb the likelihood that they’d ever become pregnant out of wedlock by 42 percent. So Dad (and Mom), speak up. Get involved. You can’t afford not to!

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