Why Parents are God's Ministers to Restrain Children and Teens by Samuel H Johnson

 HADTRT15b Why People must Be Restrained - Parents

Hello and welcome everyone to another episode of Hear and Do the Right Thing. 

This is the second message in the series – Why People need to be Restrained? Today, the focus is on Parents. Now, what do parents have to do with restraining people? Or more accurately, restraining children and teenagers? They have a lot to do with it. The role of the parents is central in helping to develop a sound moral character. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I want you to be clear about what I mean by restraining people. To be restrained means  to be Muted, to be Confined, to be Controlled, to be Boxed in, to Set limitations, to be Led and to be Directed. Most importantly, the key is restraining people from a lifestyle of doing or practicing evil, rebellion and sin. Why? Because all people are sinful by nature. Let me repeat that -  all humanity is born with a sin nature, separated from God, and headed for death, hell, and the grave, never to be reconnected back to God. But God has established a solution for this depraved nature of man. That solution is the in Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven. That unparalleled act presents to all humanity a hope of reconciliation with God, a gift of salvation, and escape the certainty of hell and complete separation from God. So why is restraining important? Because it gives us an opportunity to resist our proclivity, our tendency to rebel and sin and gives us a chance to be saved. 

So parents play a significant role at the beginning of our lives through our teenage years. I know that it’s hard to accept the truth that babies are born with a sin nature, with a selfish nature. They look so cute, so sweet. Right? Have you seen how a baby or toddler behaves when they don’t get their way? They cry, wail, bawl, throw a tantrum. Why is that? They want what they want when they want it. Hungry or not they don’t like being restrained from what they want. 

All are born with a sin nature, and there is no one who is born good, no one who is born righteous. No not one. 

And thank God that babies are little, otherwise they might knock over the parents to get whatever they want. Babies need the restraining hand of parents. 

So parents are the first restraining authority ordained by God. Let me repeat that, Parents are the first restraining authority ordained by God. Parents have the responsibility to train a child to know right from wrong, to restrain their rebellious, sin prone nature. Without the restraining hand of parents, the future of society would be chaos everywhere. Thank God for Parents

Do you remember times when our parents warned us about certain people that we were hanging out with? certain groups that we’re hanging out with? Why do parents do this? Because they already have experience but you are the child; you’re a teenager who thinks that you know better than your parents; and you say, “Oh there’s nothing wrong with this group “ “they are nice people” But deep down inside of your heart you know at least something is wrong. Teenagers listen to this. Do you have any friends who bully people, who undermine others, who cheat on exams, who steal items in department stores and you are silent about it? Why? You don’t want to be a snitch? Did you want to be a part of the group? Did you want to be recognized by others? But you know it is wrong and your parents taught you better, taught you right from wrong! In addition, many of the people in those groups you followed have a tragic end – death, prison, or a troubled life. These are some of the results of the sin nature of human beings. Of course there are exceptions. But it is only by the grace of God that some of us survived. Some people may not believe this but the devil and his fallen angels influence people who rebel and do wrong. Yes, satan is a real personality in the spirit realm. Satan tries to destroy your future early in life. So you and I need to listen to our parents. Their instructions are a restraint against wrongdoing, against evil and against wickedness. This is a God ordained function for parents.

Now the first 7 chapters of the Book of Proverbs in the Bible are an excellent guidelines by which parents can lead their children and restrain their desires to do selfish acts. 

Hear what Proverbs 1: 8-10 says: “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent”

That is clear and direct. So, Listen to your parents, Honor your parents. I am an adult and I still listen to my parents because you can’t buy wisdom. God ordained parents for this. 

The restraining hand of parents empowers children and teens to be willing to stand up and say no to wrong things - done by their friends, by their classmates and colleagues; If parents fail to clearly instruct by word and deed good moral standards, then children will fulfill the scriptures which says “bad company corrupts good character” 

Also God provides a blessing for honoring parents. In the Book of Ephesians the first three verses of chapter 6 say:   Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

Hear the promise? “It may be well with you and live a long life”

One of the reasons why so many young people are dying early in society today is because of dishonoring this promise by God. In fact, many of us adults realize the value of parental restraint in our lives when we are in our thirties!!! 

Now, there are people who object to my proposal, my presentation of the necessity of parental authority and restraint. They would cite an encroachment on freedom and self-expression of children and teenagers. In other words, children have rights and we should emphasize how they feel about rules. We see this in the open attacks on parental authority from many quarters including the government institutions like the education and child welfare departments; certain social groups and Hollywood. In my view, God gave parents the responsibility for teaching their children the morals standards for life, not the government, not the schools and universities. Morality is not based on what’s popular, on poling data, or what the celebrities and high-profile people do in our society. Feelings are important but do not determine character. We express feelings but we live by principles of truth and discerning between right and wrong. Parental restraint keeps you from sin, protect your life and gives you a solid foundation for life relationships. Sure many rebel, many ignore the restraint, but most to their detriment. God ordained parental authority – to lay the foundation for overcoming our sin nature, a reconciliation back to God through Christ. Parental restraint is a good thing ordained by God. It is the foundation on which the future salvation of children is built. In summary I can conclude that restraint is the guidepost through which God’s calling will be fulfilled in the life of every child. Parents please continue to restrain your children in the obedience and love of God. Indeed, parental restraint is a good thing ordained by God

I want to thank all of you for reading this blog. Please share this information with others, your family, and friends. We hope that the principles we share will help to advance your thinking, especially in the lives of our young people. We would like to hear from you.

And remember that you always need to Hear and Do the Right Thing. Knowledge is powerful, but the wisdom of God is the principal thing.

Until next time.. 

Why People must Be Restrained by Samuel H Johnson

My topic is Why People must Be Restrained. 

Wow. That’s a mouthful  “People must Be Restrained” Restrain means to be Muted, to be Confined, to be Controlled, to be Boxed in, to Set limitations. Someone would probably ask - Bro Sam, Why would you say that People must Be Restrained? After all, this sounds like a violation of my rights. 

On the surface, it may sound like a violation but we must dig deeper. What is the state of humankind today? How are people behaving? How are they treating family, neighbors? strangers? People in the community? How is the behavior of politicians? Business Leaders? Religious leaders? 

Look around and we can agree that sin and rebellion is on the rise in our society. We see crimes at every level of our society today, from top to bottom. Political leaders are in a ruthless binge for power, lying and cheating is becoming normal in politics and business. We see laws implemented that support sinful practices. There is an open attempt to destroy democracy as we know it in America. It’s normal to see when a political party gets into power, it forgets all the ideals they were promoting – equality, concern for the poor and oppressed, justice, fairness for all etc. And it does not matter what ideology they claim to follow. Crimes like tax cheating, murder, robbery, domestic violence are at an all-time high despite charlatans who try to manipulate the statistics to fit their ideology. Family stability is diminishing, being redefined to fit what people feel. Truth and facts are despised for feelings. I even heard someone said that “feelings are more important than the truth.” 

All this reminds me of the recurring statement in the book of Judges in the Bible. It says, “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” In other words Truth is relative. It’s the me, myself, and I philosophy. It’s the height of selfishness. And, because of this mentality our country, our world is headed for chaos and destruction. 

What is really happening? People put themselves at the center of their morality, their philosophy, their outlook, and their worldview. They just know that they are good. They are fine when others accept them or agree with them; regardless of truth or facts. But if you disagree with them, then that’s judging. But objectively, 

that is idolatry, self-worship. What people fail to realize or accept is that there is no one that is good, no one that is righteous. Only God is good, only God is righteous! Humans will inevitably destroy themselves and the world, if left to do whatever they feel, whatever they want. This is why humans must be restrained, and I will give the reasons later

In the Book of Genesis 6 Verse 5, God had to implement a global flood and save eight people to start humanity again. Why? Verse 5  “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” Let me repeat that clause “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” Yes, evil continually. That’s the heart of man; we are not born good. We are all born with a sin nature, a proclivity to rebel, a tendency to sin, to do wrong, to be selfish. In Genesis 19, God destroyed two cities, Sodom, and Gomorrah, because of blatant sin and iniquity. Yes, the heart of man is desperately wicked and that is why all humans need to be born again, born from above, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sin of all humanity. 

So, God had to set systems in place to restrain humans, so He can complete His plan of redemption before humans destroy themselves and the planet. First, God gave every human a conscience. We all have a sense to distinguish between right and wrong. But many people have dumb-down their conscience, defy and deny the warnings of their conscience when they sin, rebel and do wrong. We hear some people being described as having a cold heart, a hard heart, or no conscience. God gave us that conscience as a warning against evil and sin but most of us rebel. God also gave humans parents, a father, and a mother to restrain us from doing wrong from an early age. He also gave us the law, government, and the church to restrain our human proclivity to sin, our human tendency to do wrong. This indeed is a serious matter, the necessity of restraining humanity. We will look at each restraint next time. We will look at why God gave us parents, the law, government, and the church. So look for the next blog.

Remember that you always need to Hear and Do the Right Thing. Knowledge is powerful, but the wisdom of God is the principal thing.