"Childhood Stolen" Truly, the thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10: 10).  One of the devil’s greatest prizes is the innocence of children, and he uses unwitting, selfish adults to carry out his schemes.  Aside from the obvious enemies of children, such as sexual predators and purveyors of pornography, there is a more subtle, widespread assault on childhood.  Unfortunately, much of it begins in the home.  In the break-neck speed of modern living, many times both parents (if a child is fortunate enough to live with both parents) are juggling careers and home life, taxiing their kids to day-care, school, sports, etc.  The undivided attention and time that children need from their parents are lost in the rush, reduced to small bits of conversation when their schedules and paths intersect.  Parents with well-intentioned but misplaced priorities are determined to give their kids (and themselves) every material advantage in life.  More hours in the work force are required to pay for the lifestyle they have chosen.  Because parents don’t spend enough time with their children, they purchase more “stuff” for their kids to appease their guilt-ridden consciences.  Parents need to remember that children are eternal, and “stuff” is temporary, and place value on each accordingly.  Whoever coined the popular cliché, “Quality time, not quantity time” undoubtedly was justifying putting their interests above their children’s. The Bible declares that children are a “heritage and a reward from the Lord” and they are very precious in God’s sight (Psalm 127:3).  Jesus said, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18: 3).  Jesus also said, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18: 6) and “to take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones” (vs. 10).  Clearly, God places great value on children. As parents, we, and especially fathers, are charged by God to train our children in a godly way, instructing them in the word of God.  We are responsible for the influences we allow into their lives.  That would include what they are being taught in school, what music they listen to, what they are watching on television, what they are doing on the computer and the friends that they keep.   We are commanded to love our children, and to chastise them when rebellion and foolishness arise.  “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him” (Proverbs 23: 15).  As our culture becomes increasingly humanistic, forsaking its Christian roots, popular opinion deems spanking as “abuse.”  Chastisement is a God-ordained restraint that is beneficial to a child when implemented for the good of the child rather than to vent a parent’s frustration or anger. “Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.  You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23: 13-14).  “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly” (Proverbs 13: 24).  Parents who are too lazy or just don’t care to discipline their children are undisciplined themselves.  We have a generation of neglected children who have basically been left to themselves, their parents trusting to“luck” that their kids turn out alright.  Children don’t grow up to be considerate and responsible adults by chance; only parental diligence, hard work and sacrificial love produce that.    Epidemic divorce rates, multiple marriages, parents with “live-in” partners, alcohol and drug abuse, agendas from schools, entertainment, media and the government to promote every brand of sexuality to children as young as kindergarteners, clothing manufacturers that produce sexy, edgy clothing for small girls, movies and music and video games saturated with sex and cruelty, kids obsessed with suicide and glamorizing a culture of death—all of these are destroying the joyous, magical, carefree years of childhood.  The innocence of children is what the devil hates and loves most to corrupt.  The home should be a safe haven for children in this chaotic world.  Parents should fiercely protect the hearts and minds of the children that God has entrusted to them.  God did not give us the awesome responsibility of molding a child’s life without instructions; the Bible is our “owner’s manual” for everything pertaining to our lives.  The Bible teaches us how to love God and love one another.  Our roles as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, children, employees and employers, leaders and servants, governing authorities and ministers are defined, and if obeyed, create the peaceful, orderly world that was God’s original design.  Don’t let Satan and this fallen world system steal the hearts of your children, but “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22: 6). “The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him.  Let your father and mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice” (Proverbs 23: 24-25). “But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.  But you continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3: 13-15).