Isaiah 54:13
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
Proverbs 22:6.
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Parents are stewards to whom God has entrusted the children for proper care and at the end of your stewardship, He expects to get a good report of their good performance in this assignment given to you.
Every parent is responsible to care and nuture his/her child in a way of the Lord , in a proper way as to reverence God and walk in obedient to God.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRAIN UP A CHILD?
According to the book of Proverbs 22:6, says \”Train up a child in the way he should go And when he is old he will not depart. This verse also did not let us know exactly the measures expected in carrying out such an assignment I supposed and he didn\’t say it must be when you train up a child in a Christian faith he will not depart from it either, rather it reminds us of the need that if you train up a child or you bring up a child well and groom the child in the fear of the Lord and in a well behaved manner when that child grows up, there\’s every likelyhood that he may stick with such behave when he grows up later in life.
The admonishion of Proverbs 22:6 is that early training of a child will set the child\’s life in the right path in his adult life. As Christains we must ensure that our children are brought up in truth of the word of God and help them to walk in the path of righteousness, in a way he may want to carry on with the pattern of life that must have been built aound him as a child when he grows up for the fate of humanity is in his hands.
However children are their own individual with different personalities, traits, life experiences and influences from others. In this a wise parent may continuously drum it to the ear of the child like the writer of the book of Proverbs said to his son
8 \”My son, hear the instruction of your father; reject not nor forsake the teaching of your mother.
9 For they are a [victor\’s] chaplet (garland) of grace upon your head and chains and pendants [of gold worn by kings] for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
11 If they say, Come with us; let us lie in wait [to shed] blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause [and show that his piety is in vain];
12 Let us swallow them up alive as does Sheol (the place of the dead), and whole, as those who go down into the pit [of the dead];
13 We shall find and take all kinds of precious goods [when our victims are put out of the way], we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 Throw in your lot with us [they insist] and be a sworn brother and comrade; let us all have one purse in common–
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path;
16 For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird!
18 But [when these men set a trap for others] they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors\”. (Proverbs 1:8-19)
At adult age the child may start to exhibits his/her own ideas, and want to follow his on way totally different from what you thought he knows, here you may not always find it easier to control or enforce the child to adopt a particular set rules.
What Do We Do As Parents ?
In all my raising up children even in a strict dedicated Christain home you still see children deviates from the faith despite all the doctrines and teaching of the word of God in their childhoods. Prayerfully bring them before God\’s presence and patiently counseling them, you may find out that you can influence them by the things they see you do in truth but it may not be a guarantee that they may remain in the faith of which you want them to be.
The Bible recommends that we teach our children and help them recite the word of God we taught them to their own children and their children children. \”Only take heed, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your [mind and] heart all the days of your life. Teach them to your children and your children\’s children\”. (Deuteronomy 4:9).
For parents are just care takers of their children. The children belongs to God Almighty who will grant them the heart to know Him and His righteousness that was why God called Abraham and informed him of why He had to specially chose him for a purpose and thus says the Lord God
\”I have made a special agreement with him. I did this so that he would command his children and his descendants to live the way the LORD wants them to. I did this so that they would live right and be fair. Then I, the LORD, can give him what I promised.” (Genesis 18:19)
Parents are adjoin not to provoke their children to anger, but to bring them up in the discipline and instructions of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4. Although it is the parental primary duty to chastise their children if he divert stubbornly out of the way, he should where necessary employ the use of the rod. \”Do not withhold correction from a child for if you beat him with a rod he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell\”. (Proverbs 23:13-14).
It was further stated that \”He who spares his rod hates his son But he who loves him disciplines him promptly\” (Proverbs 13:24).
There is difference between child abuse and correction of a child. Whereas, you can use a cain in love to correct a child at the same time you can still withhold the cain yet you have abuse the child. We have to draw a clear line on child abuse and child\’s discipline.
Whether or not we use the rod, the word of God is true, if you love your child you will always instruct that child and will not spare the rod when it becomes necessary to discipline that child.
Parents please put in your best efforts to ensure that you raise your children in God\’s way. Remain blessed as you read 🙏 ✍️Mrs Blessing I N Onugha.