Parents know the Biblical expression, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This is one of the statements from Scripture that expresses the general rule as concerns these matters. Well- trained children generally and commonly end up being good honorable adults. There are exceptions as is always the case with general rules. We cannot forget that children become adults and as such have their own free-will. They may indeed exercise that free-will badly and make sinful and destructive decisions. Training is a powerful and good thing but it does not make people robots.
We are all aware of instances wherein there is an exception in reverse. There are children who get not good and proper training but little or even bad training. The general rule is that such children turn out to be troubled and troubling adults. But there are situations when one of these young people rises above his or her “raising” and becomes an outstanding adult human being. Such is a positive result of the human characteristic of free will moral agency.
What then are parents to do? Train our children the best we can. When they fall, help them get back up. When they do something wrong or dumb, discipline them. Encourage their abilities and rejoice in their accomplishments. Most of all, love then from the beginning to the end. And always pray for them.
Now I want us to think about another part of this passage.. .the part about the child “going.” The verse has in it a linear dynamic peculiar to the way Hebrews (and later Christians) viewed history. People were (and are) seen as having a beginning as an independent soul who progresses through life and ultimately becomes old.
The transitions our kids go through are on my mind. Our own boys have moves through a number of the stages of life and are both on the cusp of more change. Yes, Mom and Dad have to make adjustments, but so the boys. What will guide them as they go? What will guide your children as they follow the path of challenge and change all life entails?
Only one thing will suffice: a spiritual backbone made stroii b reliance on the principles revealed in God’s Word. Christianity is a revealed religion. It is known before it is felt. Emotion serves the intellect, not he other way ‘round. A young man or woman must have at his or her disposal a reservoir of principle, a bedrock of truth. God has provided this for us (John 17:17) and we are thankful that He has.
Most kids are going out into life without the knowledge that truth
real and absolute. They have been mis-trained to believe that everything is relative, that ethics are situational and that the question of right and wrong is to be viewed subjectively. This is a most dangerous and morally debilitating doctrine. It is powerful enough to undo good parental training. This is so because moral relativism is permissive in character and as such has a strong appeal to the lusts of the flesh. Relativism is effective because these are the temptations to which young folks are most susceptible.
So we must do the best we can to train our children effectively and love them carefully. Part of this is the practice of encouraging our own children and any other youngsters whenever we see them doing good things. Let’s be sure that we as parents and friends of young people we
our part to help them secure their hearts as faithful children of God. After all, they are going to go out into the old world no matter what. it is
to us to help them be ready to go. .