Changed by the Word

The Word Works

It is no doubt that the teenage years,
the beginning of puberty, brings
about a host of brain and behavioral
change.
Each male teenager is different and
goes through these changes differently.
Her teenage boy is no exception.
He had always been a handful though
he appears quiet to most people.
She relates so well as she was like
that at that age too.
He once picked a gala on the head of
the seller through the window of a
commercial bus.
The mum was so shocked at the
swiftness at which he picked the snack.
He was just 3 years old at the time
When he was 8 years old she took him
and his brother shopping for toys.
She bought what she could afford.
She was terrified when she found a
toy in his pocket after they got home.
How he passed the scanner at the
door still shocked her till today.
She imagined the humiliation of
being caught shoplifting.
They could have been arrested!
He got his first android phone at
age 10.
It was a low grade android phone.
Something to play games and watch
children videos.
It thrilled him so much.
He was able to download games and
cartoon videos as much as he wanted.
No more boredom when there was
no electricity supply.
He just need to charge phone battery
full ahead of power outage
He clocked 13 and the low-grade
android phone no longer appeared
thrilling.
He requested for a higher grade android
phone in order to explore more.
She promised to upgrade him with one
of the newer version android phone
if he performed well in his studies.
He had been dwindling in his grades in
school.
He showed more interest in playing
with phone than studying for better
grades.
At some point going to church was also
not interesting to him.
It is all about phone and having fun of
his life.
The first time she dared ask him to read
his bible in place of playing games on
his phone he cried bitterly like reading
the bible was a punishment.
She had to sit him down and give a well
deserved counselling on what the bible
is and how it is as important to read the
bible daily as it is to play games daily.
He agreed to read at least a chapter of
the bible a day before playing with his
phone.
He did that for a while then stopped
without her noticing
To celebrate his 13th birthday and
because he made good his promise by
getting better grades she got him an
upgraded android phone.
The phone also serve as his source of
internet for doing his school assignments
Events went from bad to worse from
that moment onwards.
Without her knowledge he opened a
facebook account with an unknown name.
She got a facebook request to accept
someone naming her as his mother.
While she was still wondering who the
person could be she saw a message in
her inbox.
It was from her son with a strange name.
He dropped messages introducing himself
with his real name and that he was
waiting for her to accept his request.
She was at work when she got the request.
A million questions ran through her mind.
How did he open a Facebook account?
She believed he would not understand it.
Where did he get data when she was
not the one that gave him wifi connections?
Immediately she got home she asked
the pertinent questions running through
her mind. He gave her answers that
satisfied her for the moment.
She felt the need to monitor him more
than before.
From the close monitoring she noticed
something she had not seen before;
he was always hard
She queried him on why he was so
hard as such.
He said it is nothing.
She continued to watch him closely.
She caught him chatting with a girl
on Facebook messenger.
Another time he was caught fiddling
with his penis.
Then she realized it is likely he had
started watching pornographic videos.
At this point she realised she had to
intervene before things get worse.
She requested to have his phone for
a look through.
She went through the applications on
the phone one after the other.
One of the browser popped up nude
videos as she opened it.
This confirmed what she had already
suspected about him watching
pornography.
He said he did not know how to stop
the notification from popping up.
She uninstalled the offensive browser
without any argument
She prayed on the matter for guidance
on what to do.
As led by the Holy Spirit she started a
daily bible reading plan with him.
One plan on his phone and the same
plan on her phone.
She does not allow him have the phone
again except to do his school
assignments and to tick off the chapters
he had read on the bible plan
(he read on his hard copy bible )
From the moment he started reading
his bible daily she noticed a turnaround
in him.
No more masturbation or signs of
watching pornography.
He also became more responsible and
respectful.
He offered to assist her do some chores
in the house.
He also started expressing his care
towards her when she is burdened or
stressed over anything.

The Word of God changed him.

Abike, 2021

PS: We often make the mistake of thinking
our children are too young to understand
the scriptures
But we watch them gain academic
knowledge and master the use of
technology effortlessly
We push the day of their salvation but
pushing it only exposes them to the
world and its systems
Introduce your children to the Holy
Spirit today
Introduce your children to the word
of God
The Word works
The Word transforms
The Word turns our realities around