{"id":33026,"date":"2021-03-06T19:30:34","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T01:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=33026"},"modified":"2021-03-06T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T01:30:34","slug":"i-dont-want-my-kids-to-be-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-want-my-kids-to-be-different\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I Don&#8217;t Want My Kids to be Different&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Greg Gwin<br \/>\n<em>The Beacon<\/em>, January 22, 2013\n<p>Although most Christians wouldn&#8217;t say it in so many words, many parents seem to be very concerned about things that might make their kids look &#8216;different.&#8217; They are concerned about raising their children in strict, disciplined ways that might make them stand out in contrast to others. They mistakenly feel a need to have their kids &#8216;blend in&#8217; with kids at school, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Well, let&#8217;s see about that . . .<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Statistics indicate that 13% of teens in America have had sex before their 15th birthday, and 70% have had intercourse before they reach 20 (1). &#8216;But, I don&#8217;t want my kids to be different.&#8217; Really!?! Are you sure about that?<\/li>\n<li>6.5% of 8th graders, 17% of 10th graders, and 23% percent of 12th graders used marijuana in the past month, while 3.6% of 8th graders, 14.5% of 10th graders, and 28% of 12th graders reported getting drunk in the past month (2). But you say, &#8216;I don&#8217;t want my kids to be different.&#8217; Are you kidding!?!<\/li>\n<li>35% of teenage boys and 26% of teenage girls admit to shoplifting. 83% say they have lied to their parents about something significant, and 64% admitted to cheating on tests (3). Yet, you&#8217;re still worried about your kids being &#8216;different&#8217;? How can that be!?!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why are parents so worried about their children being viewed as &#8216;normal&#8217; in such a wicked, immoral world? <b>Now <\/b>is the time to be teaching them, training them, and helping them to realize that pleasing God will require a way of life that is truly &#8216;different&#8217; &#8211; even &#8216;weird&#8217; &#8211; by the norms of the ungodly society that surrounds us. If you don&#8217;t instruct them in their youth to &#8220;<em>come out from among them and be separate<\/em>&#8221; (II Corinthians 6:17), don&#8217;t be surprised if they reach adulthood without a true and sacrificial love for God. Think!<\/p>\n<h3>Notes:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Guttmacher Institute<\/li>\n<li>National Institute on Drug Abuse<\/li>\n<li>Josephson Institute<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Greg Gwin The Beacon, January 22, 2013 Although most Christians wouldn&#8217;t say it in so many words, many parents seem to be very concerned about things that might make their kids look &#8216;different.&#8217; They are concerned about raising their children in strict, disciplined ways that might make them stand out in contrast to others.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1028],"tags":[665,38,29,107],"class_list":["post-33026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-morality","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/teaching-children-about-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":0},"title":"Teaching Children About Fornication","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts \"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body\" (I Corinthians 6:18). Perhaps no precept of scripture is as widely ignored as this one. Our society is absolutely obsessed with sex. Advertising,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adolescence&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/teen-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91619,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/one-word-to-transform-your-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":1},"title":"One Word to Transform Your Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser Parenting can feel exhausting and confusing. How do you train your child in a way that works-and reflects biblical wisdom? The answer may be simpler than you think. It starts with teaching your child to respect one small but powerful word: \"No.\" In this video, Scott Smelser\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Parenting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92445,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-keep-our-younger-children-from-imitating-their-older-rebelious-sibling\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":2},"title":"How do we keep our younger children from imitating their older rebelious sibling?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to write in with a quick update regarding \"How do we deal with a rebellious teenage daughter?\": Our daughter was less than enthusiastic about this idea at first. We decided to make it a small group of teens, and she was mortified at the idea of us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-necessary-things-in-christian-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":3},"title":"Two Necessary Things in Christian Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jen Venuso Whether or not you make New Year's resolutions (I've been both), you're likely reflecting on the past and looking forward to the next year. Right now, I'm heavily in the throes of parenting, so much of my reflection settles there. As a bio\/foster\/adoptive mom to seven kids\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/children-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24641,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-spoiling-my-youngest-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":4},"title":"Am I spoiling my youngest children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am nearly sixty and a widower. My wife gave birth early to a set of twins, but she didn't survive the delivery. I was left with children ranging from 10 years of age to sickly premeies. The twins survived and will be 13 soon. They are intelligent; spoiled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parents-consistency-is-a-key\/","url_meta":{"origin":33026,"position":5},"title":"Parents: Consistency is a Key!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin All godly parents are concerned about bringing up their children to be good, God-fearing people. In fact, we are commanded to do so (Ephesians 6:4). There are lots of negative influences in the world that make this an increasingly difficult job. We worry about the impact of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}