This past Sunday, our pastor began a sermon series on the book of Daniel.

His practical teaching struck a chord deep in my heart, especially when he highlighted Daniel’s unwavering determination to hold tightly to his ideology, integrity, and identity despite living as a captive in Babylon.

He challenged our young people:

Make up your minds now about who you are, and whose you are, before you’re thrust into the world’s modern-day Babylon.

This got me thinking….

Before Daniel was taken away in captivity we can assume he lived a relatively normal life in Judah, with a family of his own.

We see evidence in Daniel’s life that there is a strong likelihood that his parents diligently instructed him in the ways of the Lord.

This instruction as a boy shaped the man we know as Daniel.

Here’s the question I have….

Parents, are we raising young people who can be modern-day Daniels, faithful and strong amidst today’s captivity of worldly philosophies?

The world isn’t passively watching our kids grow up.

It actively seeks to captivate them from day one.

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, today’s world may not physically imprison our youth, but its chains—intellectual, emotional, and spiritual—are every bit as strong.

In Daniel’s day, King Nebuchadnezzar specifically targeted Judah’s best:

Young people who were intelligent, engaging, respectful, and well-bred.

He sought to erase their identities, saturate them with Chaldean philosophy, and remake them into something wholly Babylonian.

Isn’t this exactly what we see happening today?

Just like ancient Babylon, modern institutions, universities, and society in general often pursue young people who are gifted, articulate, and capable.

They eagerly strive to shape their thinking and indoctrinate them with a philosophy foreign to God’s truth.

The Babylonian culture sought to erase every aspect of the Hebrew youths’ original identity—even physically making eunuchs of these young men, literally neutering their ability for future generations.

Do we not see so many disturbing parallels of today?

Identity itself is under attack, as young people are increasingly pressured to abandon the biblical foundations of who they are and who God designed them to be.

With extreme measures attempting to create a society norm of sexually mutilating young people.

As one old man said,

“The game doesn’t change, only the players do.”

Evil has always lurked in society.

But Daniel took a stand.

Daniel 1:8 says:

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

This verse is powerful.

Our pastor challenged every young person to memorize this verse.

Daniel didn’t wait for temptation to come before he decided; he determined ahead of time who he was and what he would stand for.

• Are we preparing our children to do the same?

• Are we intentionally raising young people who can thrive and excel in the world without ever compromising their identity in Christ?

• Are we equipping them not only to live within the culture but to maintain their convictions and integrity in the face of temptation?

The youth in our Bible-believing churches should be the cream of the crop.

Our homes, our homeschools, and our daily lives should purposefully cultivate in our children the spiritual grit and tenacity needed for the challenges that lie ahead.

Let’s commit ourselves to building Daniels:

Young men and women who know who they are, who refuse to compromise, and who can excel in the culture without conforming to it.

This past Sunday morning, I found myself at the altar praying for my own five kids, that they would have the courage and conviction to be Daniels in this modern Babylon.

Will you join me?

Pray for your children.

Pour into them.

Prepare them to stand, to thrive, and to hold fast to Christ, even in the midst of a world filled with compromise and depravity.

We need more Daniels.

Let’s raise them together.

Biblical Womanhood

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