{"id":55477,"date":"2009-11-04T20:46:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=55477"},"modified":"2022-11-04T20:50:03","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T01:50:03","slug":"the-children-of-ones-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-children-of-ones-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"The Children of One’s Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Bryan Matthew Dockens\n

The name Jamie Lynn Spears was unknown to me until the sixteen-year-old actress and younger sister of Britney Spears recently announced that she is expecting a child. This news has predictably brought increased attention to the issue of teen pregnancy. Allow me to submit for your consideration, however, that the problem, in this case, is not teen pregnancy, per se.<\/p>\n

\"\"By God’s word, a young person with a child is blessed. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the\u00a0children of one’s youth<\/strong>. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate<\/em>” (Psalm 127:3-5). Of course, the foregoing blessing is predicated on the assumption that the “children of one’s youth” are the product of the\u00a0marriage<\/strong>\u00a0of one’s youth. A youthful marriage also receives God’s blessing, as it is written, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the\u00a0wife of your youth<\/strong><\/em>” (Proverbs 5:18).<\/p>\n

Teenage pregnancy is not the problem;\u00a0fornication is<\/strong>. Fornication is included among the “works of the flesh<\/em>,” the practice of which precludes entrance into God’s kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21). Young and old alike are under command not only to abstain from it (I Thessalonians 4:3), but even to flee fornication (I Corinthians 6:18). Thus, teen pregnancy is not at issue, but unwed pregnancy, which is inappropriate regardless of age.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bryan Matthew Dockens The name Jamie Lynn Spears was unknown to me until the sixteen-year-old actress and younger sister of Britney Spears recently announced that she is expecting a child. This news has predictably brought increased attention to the issue of teen pregnancy. Allow me to submit for your consideration, however, that the problem,…<\/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],"tags":[1572,395,309],"class_list":["post-55477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fornication","tag-teenagers","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-never-know-whats-going-to-stick\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":0},"title":"You Never Know What’s Going to Stick","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores A while back, one of my daughters was going through a box of her papers that we had stored in our attic. She ran across a paper she had written and given to me in her teen years that listed 10 reasons why I should let her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19916,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/self-esteem-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":1},"title":"Self-Esteem (Sharp)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp via\u00a0Tri-County Church of Christ. Perhaps the one goal American parents and educators agree on for children more than any other is \"high self-esteem.\" John Rosemond, a professional family psychologist who writes a nationally syndicated column that appears in the Watertown Times, wrote an article entitled \"Self-Esteem Isn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/self-esteem.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/like-arrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":2},"title":"Like Arrows","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Higginbotham via Bulletin Briefs, Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2009. In Psalms 127:4, the inspired text has a fascinating comparison. Here it is written, \"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children of one's youth.\" From this simple simile, several significant and sobering truths shine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Arrows.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-womans-womb-be-reopened\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":3},"title":"Can a woman’s womb be reopened?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a woman's womb be reopened? Answer: I'm not certain as to what you are trying to ask. The Bible does speak of women unable to have children as having their womb closed. \"But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whats-wrong-with-todays-youth\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":4},"title":"What’s Wrong with Today’s Youth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Hall All along we hear questions raised as to what has gone wrong with today's youth. Recently, a brother expressed his concern along this line and then asked, \"What advice would you give young parents to help them avoid mistakes that we have made in our generation?\" The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37383,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-sinful-to-not-want-to-have-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":55477,"position":5},"title":"Is it sinful to not want to have children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering if it's sinful for a woman not to ever want to have children? Answer: A person has the right to choose to get married or not. That choice comes with consequences since sex is only allowed within a marriage. \"But I say to the unmarried and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55477","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=55477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}