Teaching Kids to Guard Their Eyes

Spread the love

Sex is everywhere.

It is on the covers of magazines in the check-out line, the subject of T.V. shows, uninvited In pop-up windows while surfing the web, and sometimes graphically plastered on the walls of the boys’ bathroom at a local park.

I can turn the T.V. off and put a firewall on my on my internet, but I can’t put blinders on my kids every time we leave the house.

I could complain about the way other women dress or the culture that idolizes sex, but I can’t control the world. Instead I must teach my kids to guard their eyes. And I must be responsible to guard my own.

Jesus even places the responsibility of what we choose to look at on our shoulders. He says,”But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28 ESV) Jesus doesn’t tell the woman to get dressed – though Paul addresses modest apparel in his espistles. He tells the one who is looking that he is responsible for his sin.

guard eyes

In a world where seeing sexuall explicit material is just a click away, how do we teach our kids to guard their eyes?

  1. Explain to your children that looking at certain things is not good for them. Consider sharing the story of David and how his eyes led him astray. For younger kids you may consider watching or reading Veggie Tales: King George and the Ducky.
  2. Tell your children that you will ask them to not look at certain things on T.V. or the computer or even when walking through the mall. Remind them of David or King George and how looking at certain things can lead them to think about things that do not please God and therefore sin.
  3. When your children need to divert their eyes calmly state, “I don’t want you to see that please don’t look.” Ask them to turn their backs or look down. I include commercials for movies or T.V. shows that may scare them to avoid bad dreams.
  4. Talk about how images may accidentally come up on the computer or iPad like pictures of naked people. It will be natural to be curious, but it isn’t best for them. Tell them to come to you when that happens and you will help turn it off.
  5. In age appropriate ways discuss pornography. Some people look at inappropriate images and they like it so much they have a hard time not looking. Discuss how you want to help you children learn to control what they look at.
  6. Discuss how our eyes lead our minds to think and we must both control what we look at and what we think about so we can honor God.
    Show them how you turn your eyes away from things as well. Tell them what you do to guard your eyes.

Certainly not every person needs to turn their eyes from the same things so we must not lay down a hard and fast rule, but we ought to teach our children to guard their eyes. They must take responsibility for what their eyes, minds, and hearts are focused upon.

And never forget to remind our children of God’s grace when we fail.

What have you done to help your children learn to guard their eyes?

Stephanie Shott
Latest posts by Stephanie Shott (see all)
Share