Are fairy tales good for children?

[Housefly]

All seriousness and no laughter makes ________ a dull pal....

(You fill in the blank)

Ahhem,

"The Preacher sought to find accetable words; and what was written was upright-words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of the scholars are like well driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further my son, be admonished by these. Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us conclude the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. " Ecclesiates 12:10-14

Sorry if that was wearisome to your flesh....

 

[Karri]

Originally posted by Kate
All fairy tales are about good and evil, the evil get punished and the good prevail; and they teach you to believe, "if you build it, they will come" type thing.

Kate...I feel that our Lord has been speaking to me on subjects such as this.
One thing he has showed me is that the battle in the world today is not a battle of good against evil but a battle of good against good.

Let me explain. If something outright evil was presented to us of course we would turn away and not feast our eyes on such things.
The devil is smarter than this. Truth plus deception is his way. We don't notice these things so much. We pick up the good parts and say it's not SO bad!!
It's a question of the world's idea of good or God's idea of good.

I've come to the conclusion, with things that I will allow my son to see, they must be totally spiritually free (e.g. play school) or have biblical basis.(Not just good against evil!!) That is becoming harder to do!
We can say they are missing out and we are being to harsh! The devil doesn't mess around. My son still has fun and laughter.
But our human nature draws us to this world.

I had to evaluate what I wanted to teach my son.
Number 1: to be a true servant of God. I am not willing to make allowances to allow the devil to get his hands into my son's life. Not even for a fairytale!

Sound off the wall? Too harsh?
Just remember that the devil will draw us to the world..Jesus tells us to come away from it!
Missing out on t.v. shows will not kill our children...watching some of this stuff is just the beginning of deception.

Being a Christian has brought me through some tough times.
One thing I have noticed is that if you do it God's way it's seem to be quite overwhelming when you begin and it becomes much easier as you step more into his will.
The devils ways are easy. I don't even have to think..just do it..but then the road becomes hard and things start to fall apart.

Try taking the T.V. away..see how hard it is..it is easier just to leave it on!! Could it be the devils way of getting into our homes??

Just something to think about!
God Bless You

 

[Kate]

Yes, I partially agree. Evil became cool. But... You don't have to hide him from evil, you just have to teach him what is good and what is evil, and every story he reads and every show he watches he has to learn to DISCERN IT. I never restricted my son't watching or video gaming habits, but we always discussed it and now he can judge and choose for himself. I will never worry about him falling into Satan's traps.

 

[philosophizer]

The devil is going to be in our lives. We can't help that. But to refuse things because they "might" be a tool of the devil is a slippery slope angled dangerously toward gnosticism.

Look at it this way. When we vaccinate against a bad virus, we use a weak form of it that the immune system can defeat. While we shouldn't subject our children to delibritely vile things, it can be helpful to allow some of those neutral ideas in as means toward discussion and learning. As Kate said, kids must learn how to discern good from bad for themselves.

 

[Karri]

Originally posted by Kate
Yes, I partially agree. Evil became cool. But... You don't have to hide him from evil, you just have to teach him what is good and what is evil, and every story he reads and every show he watches he has to learn to DISCERN IT. I never restricted my son't watching or video gaming habits, but we always discussed it and now he can judge and choose for himself. I will never worry about him falling into Satan's traps.

I don't consider that I "hide" him from evil. We are in the world. Satan is everywhere. He see's shows that I disapprove of when he is at friends places etc. Even walking down the street, he sees evil things.

One time he had a fellow classmate (this was before I was home schooling) tell him that his daddy could cut Jesus's head off and then come and cut off his daddy's head as well.

Things happen in his life anyway to learn to discern. While he is young I will be teaching him the foundations in Christ....'I will set nothing wicked before my eyes" Psalm 101

Of course there will be a time that he will be out in the world on his own and then he will be making decisions for himself.

Children are born in sin. Even as an adult I struggle with temptation. Children are the same. Don't you think that as soon as your are not looking that they try something knew? I know that my son tests me constantly.

I know we have to trust God on how our Children turn out. But God tells us to train them and then they will not depart from that.

Of course as he gets older he will naturally have to discern more and more as he will be out in the world more and spending less time at home.

With you saying that you never restricted your son's habits. Does that mean you never stopped him viewing blatently evil things? I am guessing not. Surely you would not have evil in your home that stands out.


I think the place where parents draw the line is the question. What they consider to be evil and "good". The more I grow as a Christian, the more God shows me how much I live according to the worlds standards of "good".

Don't worry I had the exact same ideas of not sheltering my son from the world etc..but God showed me I cant do that no matter how much I try.(Maybe apart from living in the wilderness..ha ha)

Children make decisions according to how they are raised..(or if God intervenes)... if we do not sent boundaries for them how are they going to learn, God's way? They will learn according to the world's way. Even in what they set "before their eyes".

The only way our children will not fall into satan's traps is by the grace of God. I have no control over the future. I only, by the grace of God, bring my son up according to what the bible says. All I do is obey God and leave the rest up to him.

I believe that leaving children to their own devices or talking it through with them is a worldly concept, or letting them make there own decisions (I'm talking about a young child, under teenage years). God says train.

Do you have any biblical basis for talking it through or is your child older?

Just something to think about.
God Bless

 

[Kate]

Based on my experience, children immulate the parents. If a child is brought up in a peaceful and loving home, it is unnatural for them when they see grotesque violence, my son never wanted to see those. But one time he did play a game I expressed my concerns over but did not forbade it, I wanted to see what he will do. He played it for a week and then stopped. If he continued, I probably would have sat him down and told him that it was wrong for him to play it. I am glad he made the choice himself. He is now 18 and he tells me what's right and wrong.

 

[Housefly]

Your son tells you what is right and what is wrong? HA! I though mine was the only one who did that! Interesting discussion. I wonder what shows Goose and PureX watched when they were growing up? Goose has got that BobJones guy and PureX Looks like BobJones ran into Marylin Manson or something, what say you?

BA BA BANNANANA...

 

[Karri]

Originally posted by Kate
Based on my experience, children immulate the parents. If a child is brought up in a peaceful and loving home, it is unnatural for them when they see grotesque violence, my son never wanted to see those. But one time he did play a game I expressed my concerns over but did not forbade it, I wanted to see what he will do. He played it for a week and then stopped. If he continued, I probably would have sat him down and told him that it was wrong for him to play it. I am glad he made the choice himself. He is now 18 and he tells me what's right and wrong.

Maybe your son doesn't like violence..can't say I ever did as a teenager either.(I was a non Christian) But the bible tells us our heart is wicked above ALL things.

The further we get away from God's will, it gives satan room to play. And if we deny the sin that lives in us, we call him a liar.

I think a peaceful and loving home is not the point. It's more a point, that a home based on God's guidelines, then a child will not stray.

I know plenty of homes, worldly and some Christian that they have let their children make decisions for themselves. The children are quite decent human beings (by the world's standards), But the fruit of ungodliness show when they make decisions as an adult. But even then, by the world's standards they are still going O.K.

Recently a daughter of a family I know, moved far away from them to live in sin with a nonChristian boyfriend. They gave her freedom to make her own choices. I just pray that God draws her back. They don't see a huge problem..she'll get over it. She's not walking with the Lord. But she is an adult now...it is out of their hands.

We need to realize how BAD we are, even our children! The only good thing in us is God. Our children are learning foundations...if we don't stop them from watching or doing something..we are not training them. We are letting them go there own way, which is the way to death.

Jesus is the ONLY way to life.
God Bless

 

[Kate]

Karri, my post you quoted was in response to children watching violent shows. I belive the children who are brought in a peaceful and loving home will not watch violent shows. I do agree with you that a home must have Christian values for our children to be able to discern between good and evil.

Housefly, lol!