Although youngsters are born with a natural loyalty to and love for their parents, our self-serving, humanistic society brings strong pressure on these God-given ties. Sincere and God-fearing parents unwittingly push and encourage their children into a plethora of social relationships. Some go so far as to push their children into dating! The ways of the world not withstanding, Scripture presents a startling alternative: children do not need friends! Whereas they do need their mother, father and siblings, they do not need to be a social butterfly. A wise and caring parent will do the choosing of friends & companions for his child. It is dangerous and foolish to allow a child to pick his own friends when he does not yet have discernment of character or the wisdom of years. A Godly child will never 'clean up' a Canaanite friend, but a Canaanite friend will always contaminate an undiscerning, but otherwise Godly child.
