we may provide the things necessary for our children for good physical bodies to avoid all the habits of evil. May our homes be places where chil dren are loved, wanted, accepted and desired. C hapter F our Literature in the home is one of the most valuable ways of guiding our children into spiritual truth. It is difficult for a young man or for a young woman to keep pure in mind and thought with all kinds of evil literature around. While I was speaking in a certain college, a young man came to me and said, “I’m deeply troubled. I have developed a habit of self-abuse. The reason for it is that one day I went into my father’s room. He didn’t know that his dresser was unlocked. I knew I shouldn’t, but I began snooping about. Here I found some of his lewd pictures and magazines. I began to read them and my mind was filled with all kinds of lust. I’ve never been able to get over this terrible self-abuse. How do I master it?” We talked of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, about cleanliness of thought, and about controlling the mind through the power of the Holy Spirit. The cleansing power of our Lord Jesus Christ can cover every sin, but the scars of the tragedy still remain. We ought to avoid bringing into our homes anything which would cause our children to have tempta tions in any manner. How many times do you find any thing that deals with the kingdom of God in the magazines and books found in the average home? How many X’eligious periodicals do you take? Is there something that a young person can pick up to feed his soul? As parents we are also respon sible for the control of these things which affect, mold and even militate against the development of the child. What about the television? Do you just let it go on and on day after
stand him. The home was a show place. The children had to play in the cellar or basement or go directly to their rooms. Woe betide them if they sat down in any other part of the house! There were covers over the furniture; cellophane still covered the lamps. Then, once every two weeks, the mother unveiled them for a tea party so certain friends could come in and say, “My, what a won derful home you have; how beauti ful, how clean it is!” This was all at the expense of her children. One of them grew up to totally repudiate the Gospel. He said, “If this is the way one is supposed to live, I don’t want to have anything more to do with the church.” The other boy used to come to me with some of his deep loneli ness. He felt a sense of rejection. Problems were created for the lives involved. Does our home belong to the chil dren? What about play facilities? Is there the proper amount of space for it? A few years ago in the Saturday Evening Post there was a very strik ing picture. The first segment showed the father sitting in his chair read ing, looking down at his son. The boy had some m ilk cartons and blocks. He was chugging away play ing train. The next picture showed the father greatly distressed. He wanted his boy to have an expensive electric train. He immediately went down to the store and picked out the best he could find. The third cartoon showed the father down on the floor playing with his little boy and the elaborate new train. The fourth pic ture was exactly the same as the first except that the electric train was in the corner with no fascination for the boy. He was engrossed in pushing the milk cartons and blocks once again. Children don’t need ex pensive toys, but they do not some thing. They need us! May our prayer be that God will guide us, giving discernment so that 6
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