The Real Moral Authority

Christ…is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:10

Parents already have a tough enough task in teaching kids to be moral; now government-subsidized programs and leaders take them in the opposite direction. In Minnesota, Planned Parenthood distributed “Prom Survival Kits” to teens that included three condoms and a coupon for a visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic. Meanwhile, in a recent television appearance, Secretary of State Colin Powell recommended that kids use condoms. He said, “It’s lives of young people that are put at risk by unsafe sex, and therefore, protect yourself.” What the secretary didn’t mention is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health said in 2001 that there is no evidence that condoms protect against most sexually transmitted diseases.

Today’s culture is at war with your family over the hearts and minds of your kids—but you can win this battle. Start by reminding your children that right and wrong derive not from program leaders or governments, but from the mighty Creator of the universe. His moral laws are as inflexible as physical laws. If a man jumps from a twenty-story building, he will die; similarly, violating God’s commandments brings on disastrous consequences: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). An adolescent who understands this truth is much more likely to live a righteous life in a society that celebrates sinful behavior.

Before you say good night…

What do you think about the concept of “safe sex”?

Do your kids fully understand the consequences of sin?

Lord, we sometimes grow weary of the struggle against our immoral culture. Infuse our children with Your truths, remind them of Your authority and power, and grant them the determination to live a righteous life. Amen.

• From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
  Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Material from Ellen Sorokin, “Conservative Groups Scold Powell,” Washington Times, 16 February 2002, and “Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2000,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, September 2001 (www.cdc.gov/std/stats/TOC2000.htm), as quoted in Family News from Dr. James Dobson newsletter, May 2002.