\u201cHe alone, who owns the youth, gains the\u00a0future.\u201d These were the words of the ruthless, Nazi\u00a0dictator Adolf Hitler. Hitler diligently worked to\u00a0infiltrate the minds of young people with his radical\u00a0ideology. Hitler\u2019s plan to control Germany and take\u00a0over the world focused on children. Hitler knew\u00a0that if he won the minds of children, in time he\u00a0would win the world.<\/p>\n
More recently, ISIS, has launched a similar\u00a0plan. This radical, militant Islamic group is striving\u00a0to take over cities and countries in the Middle East\u00a0and beyond. In their efforts to build up their armies,\u00a0they actively recruit children. ISIS, much like Hitler,\u00a0is on a mission to win the minds of young people.\u00a0They believe those words from Hitler to be true, \u201cHe\u00a0alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a battle going on for your mind and\u00a0the minds of your children. Solomon knew the importance\u00a0of the mind. Listen to his words from\u00a0Proverbs 4:23. \u201cAbove all else guard your heart,\u00a0for from it flows the well spring of life.\u201d This was a\u00a0message of importance. \u201cAbove all else \u2026\u201d This\u00a0phrase should grab our attention. What Solomon\u00a0is saying should be at the top of our \u201cto do list\u201d.\u00a0\u201cAbove all else guard your heart.\u201d This won\u2019t\u00a0happen accidentally. We won\u2019t guard our hearts by chance. We must take deliberate steps to guard our\u00a0hearts. This effort starts by filling our minds with the right things.<\/p>\n
As Christians, our goal is to be like Jesus. We actively seek Jesus in our lives. We want to love the\u00a0way Jesus loved. We want to minister the way Jesus ministered. We want to display His patience to\u00a0others. We want to show His kindness to people we meet. We want to live like Jesus. We will never live\u00a0like Jesus until we learn to think like Jesus. We must fill our minds with Jesus. This needs to start with\u00a0our children. \u201cHe alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.\u201d We need to win the minds of our youth\u00a0for the Lord.<\/p>\n
In Paul\u2019s second letter to Timothy, he encourages Timothy to continue on in the things he had been\u00a0taught as a child. \u201cYou, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of,\u00a0knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred\u00a0writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ\u00a0Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for\u00a0training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timothy\u2019s mind was won for Christ at a young age. Timothy\u2019s mother and grandmother diligently\u00a0taught Timothy the word of God. The scene painted by Paul in these verses is missing in too many\u00a0homes today. God\u2019s Word is powerful. It is God-breathed. It is profitable to our lives. It trains. It\u00a0corrects. It makes us adequate in the eyes of God. It equips us for every good work. God\u2019s Word works\u00a0today \u2026 if we use it!<\/p>\n
\u201cHe alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.\u201d These words put into action by the wrong people\u00a0are terrifying. These words put into action by godly people provide hope. God is our refuge. God is our\u00a0strength. The moral and spiritual crisis facing our country can only be overcome by turning our hearts\u00a0and our minds back to God. A battle is being fought for our minds and the minds of our children. It\u2019s\u00a0time for us to fight for the minds of our children. It\u2019s time to fill our hearts and our minds with the word\u00a0of God.<\/p>\n
By Phillip Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n This article appears in the January 2015 issue of Think magazine. Click on the Think Magazine tab at the top of the page to subscribe or to learn more.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cHe alone, who owns the youth, gains the\u00a0future.\u201d These were the words of the ruthless, Nazi\u00a0dictator Adolf Hitler. Hitler diligently worked to\u00a0infiltrate the minds of young people with his radical\u00a0ideology. Hitler\u2019s plan to control Germany and take\u00a0over the world focused on children. Hitler knew\u00a0that if he won the minds of children, in time he\u00a0would win […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,46,66],"tags":[58,270,462,352,254],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-children","category-think-excerpts","tag-children","tag-families","tag-scripture","tag-think","tag-training","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n