Why Our Teens Need to Read the Book of Daniel

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding, and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the King’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. (dan 1:3-4) 

In this modern-day of questioning and the information age, where sometimes we just have too much info, it’s amazing that we, as mothers, often feel we are not equipped to raise teens. They are beyond our scope. We must put them in school, and let someone else deal with them and take on the responsibility of raising them – and take on the responsibility for how they turn out.

How Our Kids Can Be like Daniel

But, we don’t need to allow the fear to swallow us, and we don’t have to put them into school. We can continue raising and homeschooling them because we have some phenomenal biblical examples to follow. Our sons can be like Daniel, who, while only in his young teens, was captured by an enemy army, and taken to live in the enemy King’s palace. Was he confused? Did he choose to live as the heathens? Did he go in search of himself? Let’s look and see.

Daniel had everything going for him. He was gorgeous, brilliant, wise, discerning, and elegant. Then he was brought to the King’s palace and told he could become one of them. A young man’s dreams come true: Handsome-With-Power. 

What Does Daniel Do in a Secular Culture?

What did Daniel do?

Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself. (daniel 1:8) 

Daniel made the choice to keep himself pure. To live up to the standards he was taught at home. Not to defile himself.

As we raise our children to pre-teen and teen years, we hope and pray they will make these same wise decisions. When tempted. When faced with peer pressure. When the job is on the line. When there are many reasons to waffle, to give in, to make the wrong choice. We hope they will take a stand and make up their minds not to defile themselves.

I would love to sit at the feet of Daniel’s parents to ask them how they raised such a young man of character, so he could withstand the tide of even the king and his commanders.

Why We Can Have Hope for Our Teens from Looking at the Example of Daniel

What gives us hope is that we have biblical examples. We have Scripture to guide us. We have prayer. And we have a living God who loves us and our children unfathomably.

We, too, can raise the standard and raise a godly next generation. And those with younger children can watch and learn because we have hope.

For more articles on Daniel, check out the articles below:

How Does the Book of Daniel Reflect Modern Problems?

4 Relevant Ways the Book of Daniel Equips Teens

10 Things You Might Not Know about Daniel in the Bible

Photo credit: ©Sparrowstock

Mark & Kym Wright have homeschooled their eight children since the mid-80s. She is a national speaker for homeschooling and pens the “Learn and Do” unit studies. You can visit her websites at: www.KymWright.com and www.Learn-and-Do.com. First published in The Mother’s Heart magazine, a premium online publication for mothers with hearts in their homes. Visit www.The-Mothers-Heart.com for more information.