The Bible On Parenting

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

The book of Proverbs makes “the way we can go” very simple for us. We can either follow the way of the fool and the wicked or the way of the wise and the righteous. The command in this verse is “train.” Obviously the child is the one receiving the actions and the parent is the one performing it. What are we to train our children in, “the way they should go.” The way they should go is the way of wisdom and righteousness.

There is no sane parent who desires for their child to go the way of the fool. So why would the writer have to command us to train our children in righteousness? Because our sinful parenting worldview tells us to raise good citizens rather than righteous Jesus followers. If our kids grow up, get a good job, find success, get married, provide us with grandchildren, and stay out of serious trouble, we feel our job as parents has been successful. Is this the standard God sets for us; good old boys who are successful and stay out of trouble? No. The standard God sets for us is perfection (1 Peter 1:15) and we as parents are called to teach our children this way. So often we are complacent as parents and are satisfied with successful children who go to church once a week. Don’t misunderstand me, we need to equip our children with the tools they need for success but are we majoring in career preparation and minoring in eternity preparation?

Jesus said in Mark, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Our churches are full of children and teenagers who are swamped by extracurricular activities with the objective being to gain the world. Then we spin our heads as evangelical parents wondering why our kids go to college and the last priority on their list is finding a local church to join. The things we emphasize most on our children are the things they will emphasize most on theirs. What do we emphasize most in our kids week? Homework time or bible study time. Activities time or church time. TV time or family worship time. Busy time or stillness time. Don’t forget the consequence in the verse. “When he is old, he will not depart from it.”