How do you think your parents have protected you from danger despite your protest . Explain with the help of an example.
Answers
Youths—Let Your Parents Help You Guard Your Heart!
WHAT do you think is the most difficult challenge facing a ship’s captain? Is it crossing a vast ocean safely? Not usually. Most shipwrecks occur near the shore, not in the open sea. In fact, docking a ship can even be more hazardous than landing an airplane. Why?
Before a captain can safely berth his ship, he has to avoid all the dangers that a particular port may pose. He needs to take into account underwater currents while steering clear of other ships. He must also skirt any sandbanks, rocks, or wrecks hidden underneath the water. And to make matters worse, this may be his first visit to the harbor.
To help overcome these problems, a wise captain may engage the services of a pilot who knows the local waters intimately. The pilot stands at the captain’s side on the bridge and gives expert direction. Together they consider the hazards and steer the ship through any narrow channels to the port.
The invaluable expertise of the pilot illustrates the priceless help available to Christian youths who have to chart a course through the difficult waters of life. What is this help? Why do teenagers need it?
Let us continue the illustration of the ship. If you are an adolescent, you are somewhat like the captain of a ship in that you must eventually take responsibility for your life. And your parents have a role similar to that of a ship’s pilot as they try to guide you through some of the most difficult situations you will ever have to face in life. During the teenage years, however, you may find it hard to accept the advice your parents give you. Why is that?
The problem often lies with the heart. Your figurative heart may impel you to desire what is forbidden or to protest at any apparent denial of freedom. “The inclination of the heart of man,” the Bible says, “is bad from his youth up.” (Genesis 8:21) Jehovah makes clear that you have a real challenge ahead of you. “Deceitful is the heart above all things, and dangerously wayward,” he warns. (Jeremiah 17:9, Rotherham) In addition to harboring wrong desires, the heart can deceive a youth into thinking that he knows better than his parents, even though they have much more experience. There are good reasons, however, for you to seek your parents’ help when navigating the difficult teenage years.
Why Obey Your Parents?
Above all, Jehovah, the Originator of the family, tells you that you should listen to your parents’ direction. (Ephesians 3:15) Since God has appointed your parents to take care of you, he gives you this counsel: “Children, the right thing for you to do is to obey your parents as those whom the Lord has set over you.” (Ephesians 6:1-3, Phillips; Psalm 78:5) While you may now be in your teenage years, your parents still have the responsibility to guide you, and you have the obligation to take notice. When the apostle Paul wrote that children should obey their parents, he used a Greek word that can apply to children of any age. As recorded at Matthew 23:37, for example, Jesus referred to the inhabitants of Jerusalem as her “children,” even though the majority were adults.
Many faithful men of old continued to obey their parents long after they had become adults. Jacob, although a grown man, understood that he should obey his father’s command to avoid marrying a woman who was not a worshiper of Jehovah. (Genesis 28:1, 2) Doubtless, Jacob had also noticed that his brother’s decision to marry pagan Canaanite women had caused his parents considerable heartache.—Genesis 27:46.
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