Children and Evil

(Psa 127:5 KJV)  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

(Proverbs 8 also read)

One of the big questions of life is how to raise children.  Part of that is looking at what you turn out and asking if you did a good job.  While this does not give instructions in the process, it does give an indication of how to judge the results.

Do your children confront evil?  The two key words here are “speak” (1696), which is usually translated that way, and “enemies” (340 NASB, 341 KJV).  I was puzzled in the different words for “enemies” and found that one is the noun, which is used once, and the other (341) is an active participle, whatever that is, used 283 times.  I would look to the “active” part and say these are people out to get you.

So?  I am looking at children in their engagement with the forces of evil in the world.  Are they standing up and speaking out or are they going along to get along?  It gives me another way to look at raising children.