The innocence of children needs to be protected at all costs! Children need to be protected, not just from the sinful behavior of adults, but from that of other children.

I have always tried to watch my children very closely. I never let my guard down while in the mall or Wal-mart. I made sure they played in the yard.
However there are times when they were out of my sight playing with other children. This is where bad things can happen.

Not all children are innocent because not all parents are innocent.
I can realize that now but not when I was younger. I was taught to not trust strangers when I should have been taught not to trust anyone too much.

On at least three different occasions by three different older children I was subjected to molestation – physical and mental. Two of those older children were siblings – a brother and sister.
It was done with a certain degree of trust. I was told “me and my daddy do this all the time. But you mustn’t tell anyone!”
That’s how it begins.
That’s how it continues.
It’s a vicious cycle that has to end.
It’s the kind of thing that can really mess you up for several years.

You remember how the word of God says train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov 22:6
You can train up a child in a good way or train one up in a bad way.
Raise up a child that sees parents and their friends drinking every weekend and that child will have more of a tendency to do it too.
Let that child hear cussing, ranting, and raving and that child will have a tendency to do it too.
Let a child be raised with liberal ideas about sex and sexuality and they accept that ideology.

Sinful behavior already exist in everyone, including children. Holy behavior is also possible because each of us is made in the image of God.
David said, “For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” Ps 51:5
Which nature will be nurtured?
Sinfulness or holiness?

I cannot remember very much about the parents of these children. I vaguely remember the parents of the siblings being “social drinkers”.
I don’t know if they went to church, prayed, or even if they believed in God.
Even if they did that doesn’t mean that the children would automatically turn away from sinful behavior.

I heard a minister say something one time that struck a chord with me. He said, “I raised my children in church but I did not raise them in Christ.”
What a difference that would make if we’d train up our children IN CHRIST!