Teaching Purity to Little Boys

Yesterday I opened up Proverbs 5 and read it for breakfast. [long pause] Yes, that’s the chapter about the immoral woman.

Last week when we were at the thrift store looking for books, David and Bethel were excited to find some birding magazines. One of them was a Smithsonian, and although I glanced at it when they brought a stack over, I didn’t think anything other than pleasure that the bird magazines appeared to have good articles, and thankfulness that they don’t have ads that must be removed. Later that afternoon, I realized that the Smithsonian magazine was not in the stack when David informed me that it had bad pictures in it and he had put it back.

I wanted to take the time to talk about the immoral woman in the context of David making a wise decision to put the magazine back and tell mom about it. Here is what we talked about.

• First, I read the passage about needing discernment and making our lips security guards for knowledge (verse 2). I explained some things are wise not to talk about with some people. That’s why I can talk with Laurel about poop when I’m helping her in the bathroom, but not allow her to talk about it in the car among her siblings as a joke. I wanted them to understand that some knowledge is private.
• Next, I read about the immoral woman appearing good when she really was extremely dangerous (verses 3-5). I explained that the magazine David found looked like a good magazine. It had a beautiful bird picture on the cover, but the inside had bad pictures in it (truthfully, I don’t know how bad they were, but that doesn’t matter for my teaching opportunity). I asked, “Does the immoral woman always look dangerous?” NO!  They got the answer right! I wanted them to understand that sin often appears attractive.
• I then read the portion that tells us to get far away from the immoral woman (verse 8). David could have decided that he would look at the good parts of the magazine and not said anything about the bad parts. But he put it back and told mom. That’s exactly what Solomon tells us to do. (I do think asking mom to remove the offending pictures would be another acceptable action, but we haven’t talked about that yet.)  We are not to reason with the immoral woman, try to convert her or convince her that she’s in danger. We are not to be cavalier about sin, and I want them to understand that running away from sin is a wise response.
• Finally, I read the portions about enjoying one’s own wife (verses 15-18). I explained that this is why I don’t let anyone else touch my private parts except my husband, and that he enjoys this very much, just like King Solomon says. I want them to know that God’s ways are the best ways.

This post is a Wisdom Wednesday because I was convicted that God’s Word makes it clear that parents should be teaching their children about the dangers of the immoral woman, and the great value of the beautiful woman called wisdom. God showed me that I had a good opportunity to bring it up in a positive way. Maybe I’ll follow up this discussion with reading the chapters on wisdom, and then reading the Proverbs 31 chapter, too.

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
Lend your ear to my understanding,
² That you may preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge. Proverbs 5:1