Wheat and tares

My daughter clicked on a new show to watch last week.

It looked really cute, and I sat there for a while watching along with her.

I pretty quickly realized I didn’t like the attitude and rudeness in the show.

There weren’t bad words or taboo topics, but it wasn’t the general vibe that I’d like to see my daughter watch or emulate.

I’ve realized throughout my years of teaching and interacting with teens, and now as a parent, a truth that can be kind of scary to embrace at first.

I can’t block every bad influence out of my daughter’s life.

I can’t weed out all the tares.

Whew.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t try to create a safe haven environment in my home.

We turned off the TV show, and in the future I know we’ll have discussions about internet and phone usage…

But at the end of the day, I can’t control every single thing my daughter will ever be exposed to.

I’m going to get rid of as many tares as I can, but I can’t root them all out.

“Pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.” D&C 86:6

But as scary as this realization can be, Elder L. Tom Perry taught a sweet but powerful reminder:

“A steward managing the field must, with all his or her power, nourish that which is good and make it so strong and beautiful the tares will have no appeal either to the eye or the ear.”

How do I deal with the fact that I can’t get rid of all the tares right now?

I can nourish the good.

I can grow the wheat so strong and beautiful that the tares lose their appeal.

I can teach about the tares to take away shame or fear.

And I can prove through the way I live my life that sticking with the strong wheat is the way to go.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black