My granddaughter is five months old now, and is teething. As you might imagine, she’s pretty miserable, and so are her parents. With Christmas coming, I can’t help but wonder if Jesus went through this. Or did he not feel any pain until the end?
Also, did Jesus go thru the terrible two’s? Did he throw any tantrums? Was he a normal child, climbing trees, wrestling with his friends? And if he got into trouble, how would Mary have punished him? The Bible says spare the rod, you spoil the child. Imagine having to put Jesus in a corner.
I know. Weird stuff to think about.
Then we head to the teen years. We don’t know what happened to Jesus much during this time. He ends up in a temple but then his parents take him away. The Bible only states in Luke 2:40, And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. He had to learn about his Father’s ways. That is how a teen’s years should be filled. By learning God’s ways.
Imagine if every teenager were required to read the Bible before they could graduate from high school and college. Would we have the crime we do? Would gangs be so prevalent in this society? Would there be a country of people filled with entitlement?
Unfortunately we have taken not only God but the Bible out of our schools. That doesn’t mean teens can’t still learn. In fact, it is more important that they read the Bible at home. And parents should read it with them. Most kids learn by observation, not by talk. There was a time when the Bible was the only book in the house. It was something the head of the household read once per day. Parents used to raise their children on the Bible not the television.
Unfortunately, in today’s society, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Bible in a home that’s been open in the last year. Even so, you’d probably find more video games than Christian books.
It’s time we get back to the basics of the Bible when it comes to raising our teenagers. Have them read the Bible with you. Talk about it. Show them there is a better way then what some of their peers might think is right.
I’d love to see a school full of teenagers not only reading their Bible at night, but carrying it with them to school to discuss with classmates.
And what a difference it would make in this world.
Kathy, my thinking is GOD sent his SON to be and experience life as we live it. Therefore I would think joy and punishment was part of his upbringing, but as we know he was perfect as a human so did he require correcting. I personally feel he didn’t !