Sin Mortifies Series Part 1

Sin Mortifies 

Do Not Conform to this World

Proverbs 14:12

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."

More than 80 percent of our children are walking away from the church by the time they are seniors in high school. Does this terrify you as it should?


As a mother of four, this terrifies me. The responsibility we hold is so extremely heavy because it goes beyond academics, health, wealth and prosperity.


Today’s parents are faced with horrible possibilities, the possibility our child will become depressed and addicted to drugs and alcohol, or become pregnant while in high school, or not succeed in life financially. And to add to this, modern-day parents are also faced with these extremely high rates of disorders - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and a plethora of learning disorders. These are real problems, it is a possibility we parents will face any combo of these, but none of them are harder to face and manage than raising your child to hold the faith and none more terrifying than losing their soul unto death.

The question the church is asking, why are they walking away from Christ and how do we stop the hemorrhaging?I think the answer is both; parents fail to reflect Christ-likeness in their homes and parents allow worldly doctrines to take root in their children. Today will look at the latter, for I believe it is also the cause of the former.

We should not be conforming to the world...

Romans 12:2 tells us to “not imitate or conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and you shall distinguish what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” The word conform here means - do not be pressed into the same mold with those that follow the passions of the world.

Conformity, whether by design or fallen nature is apart of the human condition. We are conformists. And children are the biggest conformers, ever notice how easily children will follow children, as a mother who spends all her time with her children it is glaringly obvious. Someone who may not have children or may not have had the means to stay home to raise their children might want to cite the Asch conformity experiments or the Asch paradigm, where psychologist Soloman Asch's work showed that people are reluctant to break with group norm even if the group is small, and made of complete strangers. So how much more will a child who has not yet developed a firm identity in Christ, conform to his classmates and teammates, YouTubers, pop icons and television stars, who he spends his time with? The answer is much, much more.

As adults who profess Christ and go out into the world, resisting the mold can be daunting, especially out in the workforce when we are continuously pressed up against those that have strong non-Christian conformist attitudes. We are constantly engaged in spiritual battles, even more fiercely when we are following God’s statutes. And the enemy wears and tears us down, we are constantly tempted in the flesh and continuously assaulted with verbal, physical and financial attacks by people who hate us for resisting conformity and believing in Christ. And we dare even suggest that our children who spend countless hours a week with their secular schoolmates and the children of progressive Christians should hold the faith? When we as adults find it extremely difficult? We are beyond foolish if we think they can, it is the equivalent of throwing our children to the wolves.

This world completely bombards children with all that is vile, satanic in nature and hostile to God. It is a strategy, one that used by the enemy repeatedly. And they do not hide it at all. 

What they do, is keep us the Mamas and the Papas overloaded and stressed, slaving after a covetous mirage, an image or a position to uphold so that we do not see them corrupting our children until it is too late. Often these mirages have a Christian veneer, so as to give us a false sense of security that we are doing things right. This is leading the next generation to walk away from the faith in mass numbers...though some of our children will still check an “I’m Christian” box next to their name, some will even attend the occasional Christian concert or retreat, their souls will be lost. Mega Churches like Hillsong are notorious for luring our children away from the true, transformative, Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must be more vigilant with our children.

We need to mortify sin...

We should not be or allowing our children to fellowship with those who fit into the mold Romans 1:28 warn us about, whenever we can help it, because those that have not the spirit of God do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, and this is why they do what ought not to be done. So they become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity, now they have no understanding, they become mouth-pieces for Satan. They disobey their parents; they gossip, they are full of envy, strife, deceit, and malice...Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Ephesians 5: 11 "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." See, if our Christian children are acting worldly, we are to reprimand or censure them, but we cannot do this until we have mortified our own worldly doctrines and influences, for what authority do you have? Do as I say and not as I do?

For those that claim that Christian children should be exposed to sin in order to know sin and to know how to avoid it, I would urge you to reconsider, for that is the Devil’s thought. God’s word says this in 1 Corinthians 15: 33 “Be not deceived: evil communications [associations] corrupt good manners [morals]." 

As the church, we should be keeping good manners [morals], and helping each-other keep guard, protecting our children and in the Christian home giving them a place of relief from worldly influences. I preach this to myself as much as I preach it to you because life is messy and sometimes the Devil will slip in our front doors.

Our LORD tells us how to parent, let us ask him for the strength and remember that He has given us a body, the church, to help;

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates - Deut. 6:5-9.

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” - Proverbs 4:20-27

May God give us the strength and wisdom to make our house’s one which serves and worships the only true and living God, 

let the hemorrhage come to a halt.