Raising Kids in the Age of Foolishness

There are enough fools in the world!

Raising Kids in the Age or Foolishness: Understanding

Proverbs 8:5 “You naive ones, understand prudence….”

The NASB translates “understand” with the word “discern. The Hebrew word is bene and can have a variety of applications. The most primitive thought is “to separate mentally.” It is the ability to see the difference of one thing from another. The opposite would be to conflate a matter. This is the proverbial “apples and oranges” illustration. Just because two things are similar does not mean they are the same. Children have trouble distinguishing one thing from another. When they are very young, perhaps 1-9, they live in their imagination. They cannot conceptualize abstract ideas very well. Of course, this depends on the individual child. This is not a defect. It is simply how God created them. This is why they relate well to fantasy movies and cartoons.

Understanding or discernment requires perception. Perception is attained through the five senses. God gave your child five windows through which to experience the world. Unfortunately, children are spending much time experiencing the world virtually which means reality is filtered through the minds of the people who create the content on the screen. It is like a child perceiving broccoli tastes yucky because some cartoon characters make a face when they tried it. Hands on experience with personal guidance by a parent, grandparent, teacher, older sibling, or trusted friend who truly understands life with the wisdom of God is invaluable.

Children must learn to interpret the world they live in. It is like learning a new language. A baby that existed in the amniotic fluid of its mother’s warm and dark womb for nine months is traumatically pushed out into a foreign land of bright lights, noises, and faces. How can that child possibly interpret correctly what is happening to them? This is why they are swaddled and placed on their mother so they can hear the heartbeat they are so accustomed to hearing. From that point to living in a very complicated world as an adult requires learning the language of living successfully. When a child is left to figure everything out on their own or to be taught the language of the world by their peers who are as naïve as they are, you end up with a child whose perception is distorted. Of course, if a parent’s perception of the world is equally distorted because no one mentored them, then we have the blind leading the blind. Only parents who correctly perceive the reality of this world can properly train their children to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell proficiently. THERE ARE ENOUGH FOOLS IN THE WORLD.