Stand Firm in Your Faith

We often hear our parents and grandparents talk about the time when they grew up. They remark how the world has changed. My mom remembers that they didn’t lock their front door, because their neighborhood was safe. When I grew up, we would play outside, without parental supervision and come home when it started getting dark, to eat dinner.  I did play in the backyard. I also played around the neighborhood by myself. I must admit it is a very different world now.

I have two children 8 and 6 years old. We live in a safe neighborhood. It was ranked as one the best cities to raise a family in the United States. I don’t let my kids play outside alone. We lock our doors and have a house alarm. I don’t believe the world is quite as safe as it used to be. I read online posts, from neighbors, about strangers approaching children and asking them if they want a ride. Thankfully, the children say no. It serves as a reminder to talk to my kids about strangers. Now, we have to worry about sex trafficking and human trafficking. I would not have ever imagined people doing these things, when I was growing up. I sincerely do believe that the world has changed. I want to protect my kids, but I know they will have to face the world by themselves one day. I am trying to equip them with a strong faith in God, so they will have the armor to go out into this world.

Things that were unheard of, seem to occur on a regular basis. In Iowa, a girl was jogging, and she was kidnapped and killed. She couldn’t even exercise in a safe community, without an evil person harming her. There is an increase in wicked behavior. It is not something that I want to believe or think about, but its true. We become numb to the wickedness around us and lose a bit of love in our hearts. We must stand firm in our faith. The “one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
–Matthew 24:12-14 (NIV)

Being a Christian isn’t always easy. Some people get angry when they hear that you are a practicing Christian. I see vengeful comments on social media towards Christians. The news reports only a part of the story to make Christians look bad. Recently, boys from Covington Catholic High School were being verbally assaulted on a field trip, and almost physically assulted. The media edited out hours of footage to make the Christian kids look guilty. People tried to destroy these kids, blocking their college applications and threatening to blow up their school. I saw social media posts from my family, my friends, and my neighbors labeling the kids as racist. The truth was later revealed, that it was a media hoax, and the boys were innocent. It took a month to announce these kids were innocent, and only moments to create a false narrative from a video snippet. There is an increase in wickedness in our world.

We may need to be prepared for an increase in attacks on Christians. We are called to serve God, so we must believe that God will pull us through any false accusations. It will not always be easy. God will be with us, so we will never be alone. We need to stand firm in our faith, or will not stand at all.

“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
–Isaiah 7:9 (NIV)