Selecting Associates Love for Jehovah and appreciation for true worship can best flourish in our children if they are surrounded by people who are friends of God. Arranging for companions whom our children can beneficially talk to and play with may take effort. But doing so is worth it! Moreover, it is worthwhile to make opportunities for our children to meet Jehovah’s Witnesses who have taken up the full-time ministry as their career in life. Many who have chosen that course did so because of associating with zealous servants of God. A sister who became a missionary says: “My parents invited pioneers for a meal on numerous occasions. They were obviously so happy in their ministry that I wanted to serve God in the same way.” Of course, our children’s attitudes can be influenced both for good and for bad. The dangers of bad associations therefore challenge our skills as parents. (1 Corinthians 15:33) It is an art to teach youngsters how to avoid socializing with those who neither love Jehovah nor know him. (Proverbs 13:20) Shawn, quoted earlier, says: “We taught our youngsters to have friendly working relationships with schoolmates but to leave those relationships there—at school. Our children understood why they should not share in extracurricular activities or school sports events.”
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:33:04 +0000