Jeremiah 5:4
"Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God."
One of the reasons Israel and Judah ended up facing God's judgment is because someone did not take the time to teach them the LORD's way. God makes an indicting statement about His children in Jeremiah 4:22 when He says, "For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." You will notice that someone had taught them about sin. Someone took the time to teach the next generation how to do evil and supposedly get away with it. Yet, nobody took the time to be sure they knew the way of the LORD.
If Israel and Judah had known the way of the LORD, they would have known that the reason they were being afflicted was because of their sin. They would have known that the LORD was trying to get their attention to come back to Him through the trials they were enduring. But, because they didn't know the way of the LORD, they kept on going down the same path until they were destroyed.
It is important that we teach the right way to those who follow us. Your life is either causing people to know the way of the LORD or to know the way of sin. You can stand behind a podium and teach a Sunday school lesson, but your life is teaching the next generation a louder lesson. You can try to have the right rules set up in your home, but if you watch the wrong things on television and listen to the wrong music, you are teaching the next generation the wrong way. Many times the next generation is only acting out what they learned from you. They are not acting the way they do out of rebellion, it is simply that they don't know the way of the LORD.
Christian, it is your responsibility to be sure those who follow you are wise concerning the way of the LORD and simple concerning wrong. Don't let the liberal thinkers shame you into teaching the next generation about wrong. The less they know about the wrong the better. I would rather the next generation not know about sin than to know about sin and not know the way of the LORD.
Every situation you face is a teaching moment to teach the next generation the way of the LORD. When someone falls into sin, use that to teach the next generation the way of the LORD. When someone is being blessed, then use that to teach the next generation the way of the LORD. When you face hardships in life, then use that to teach the next generation the way of the LORD. Your responsibility is to be sure the next generation is not ignorant of the way of the LORD.
Have you taught the next generation the way of the LORD? Do your children know more about the ways of sin than they do the way of the LORD? Israel and Judah didn't even know that God was trying to get their attention through trials because they didn't know the way of the LORD. You need to be sure that you learn God's way and how He operates and then teach it to the next generation so they will know when the LORD is doing something in their life.