.  .  .  to the Republic for which is stands .  .  .

In the Growing Kids God’s Way Epilogue, we put forth a belief that a fundamental relationship exist between parenting and the preservation or destruction of our society. The principles shared in Growing Kids and other places aim first and foremost to help parents glorify God through their families. Yet, the same principles governing family conduct are also investments in the preservation of our Nation.

The moral and political destiny of any society will always be in the hands of the present parenting generation. By that statement, I do not mean to imply that God is not in control, but rather that His sowing/reaping principles are at work (Matthew 7:17-20; Galatians 6:7). What children become in the future will largely be a reflection of what their parents believe today. So the Nation follows. The family is the values-generating institution of our society. Once it becomes philosophically humanistic, there is little likelihood that it will return to the values that once made our Republic strong.

Biblical ethics clarifies our purpose in life by defining who we are and our duty to prepare the next generation to morally influence society. There is little hope for our collective future without a biblical sense of otherness, fairness, compassion, honesty, and justice. Can a Republic survive without biblical ethics? Can biblical ethics influence a society without a strong Christian witness maintained by each parenting generation?

America at one time had a collective moral conscience and our citizenship lived within a moral consensus. Biblical values guided that accord. That does not mean we were a Christian Nation, but it does mean we allowed a God-centered world view to guide our morality by providing fundamental virtues and values that had their origin in life, not cosmic chance. The more we lose our moral consensus as a Nation, the more we splinter into subgroups, each vying for power or striving to form coalitions of power. To maintain social stability more and more external laws are needed to replace the vacuum created by the loss of common values ─ common values that were at one time, intrinsically part of our commonness.

Our country has one of the greatest legal instruments ever written by man-the United States Constitution. It guarantees individual freedom to live without government intrusion. As great as it is, the instrument quickly loses value if we remove the moral foundations on which our liberty is based. Alter any underlying principles on which the Constitution was constructed and you alter the meaning of the Constitution. If we redefine the moral basis on which our liberty is granted, we inevitably redefine liberty itself. As each generation redefines the values that forged the Constitution they change the public character of authority that represents the Constitution. When that happens, the very premise of what a “Republic” is gets lost or muted.

We believe any generation of children not giving a working understanding behind the values that make a Republic what it is, is destined to lose the gift of true liberty. When it comes to parenting and values, we can help. When it comes to teaching your children the meaning of “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of American and to the Republic for which it stands. . .” here is a resource to consider: Our Republic