Mankind is born with an original sin nature. Unless the children are taught how to act by their parents they will more than likely choose wrong.
We see a proliferation of entitled, rude, and demanding people who were raised in the seventies and beyond lacking manners, kindness, and love. Many parents thought it was love to indulge their children, doing their bidding as the children ruled the tenor of the household.
There is a principle I have learned from raising older adopted children. I mention this because many children are being removed from their homes these days. These displaced children retain the angry mentalities of their abusive parents even after they are adopted. Changing their environment from an emotionally abusive situation to one that is loving and kind will not remove the anger the child felt in the first relationship. There is a distrust that begins in childhood and remains all their lives if not removed by Jesus Christ.
Of course, there are exceptions in which a foster or adopted child will enjoy the love in the new home, but often the emotionally abused child messages their anger retaining it into their adult years bent on revenge. However, they do not know who to target in this revenge since they will make excuses for their natural parent or pretend they really didn't do what they did. Their target is the state and the foster or adoptive parents since they really don't know who to blame for their sense of loss and anger.
Even very young children are trained by example to act badly merely by being with the abusive parent. "More is caught than taught."
It is true that children learn more by watching how parents treat others than they do by their parent's words. If a parent tells a child not to be selfish but then acts selfishly themselves, the parent will do what the parent does rather than what the parent says.
Ephesians 6:4 "4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
The early training of a child is instilled in the child as early as two years old, sometimes even a year old.
If a child is not disciplined when they have a tantrum on a continual basis the child will grow up acting bratty. If a child is not properly disciplined through calm rational spanking with a desire to correct wrong behavior but rather is demeaned and mocked in the discipline they will become angry.
Proverbs 13:24
"Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him."
I have seen undisciplined children and wrongly disciplined, grow into rude, mean, and disrespectful adults. In all the cases I have known personally the indulged child grows up to never cease being disrespectful to anyone who will not do their will. These demanding obnoxious, selfish human beings do learn to modify their tantrums to get along in society but they reak havoc in any marriage relationship when no one else is watching as well as destroying friendships merely because they have the power to do so.
These bratty entitled adults expect absolute obedience from their spouse and their children. They often end up in divorce because literally, no one can stand to live with them.
We see this mess growing rapidly as the world turns away from God to a false religion based on self. Even in Christian circles, we are watching Biblically educated people who have no manners, are rude and superior acting, some standing in the pulpits. They deny the truths of the Bible in favor of their cultural Christianity while leading their flocks down the road to destruction.
We are living in times of nearly complete rebellion against God, this does not exclude the church gatherings. Many if not most gatherings today are preaching a false feel-good gospel messaging feelings to maintain the social club mentality. They really aren't about worshiping or following Christ, they are about self.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us what the end days apostasy looks like and it is ugly!!!
"2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult Times Will Come
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
So what do we do with all this? If we know the word of God well, continually asking the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom we will be able to live in the world and still maintain the fruit of the Sprit in spite of everything around us. We do not have to act the way the world is acting, we can be independent of the world as we move our way through it.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
1 John 2:15-17
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Our close companions must be those who love Christ and are living out the fruit of the Spirit. This is how we have backup, first Christ in us and then those who support our decision to obey Christ.
James 4:4
"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
Colossians 2:8
"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."
We must be the light in the darkness. We do not want to become one with the darkness, we want to be the light that can lead others to Christ.
John 12:46
"I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."
1 John 2:17
"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
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