![]() ![]() It doesn't mean forcing them into a certain set of beliefs or rituals rather, it means demonstrating a real faith – one that puts the focus on loving God and loving others. ![]() Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”Īs I’ve written before, we have a responsibility as parents to teach our children what matters to God. None is more clear than Deuteronomy 6:6-7: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Throughout Scripture, God is pretty clear about the responsibility He places in the hands of parents. Want to pray for your child that they may grow in wisdom and faith? Download your FREE printable prayer guide here for blessings for your children. Regardless of the camp, you may fall in on the interpretation of this complicated verse, I believe there are several important implications we should all be able to agree on. I am a parent, however, and I do know that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” ( 2 Timothy 3:16). I’m no theologian or Bible scholar, so I’m not an expert in these matters. In this view, the reading would be more like “Train up a child in his own way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” That certainly changes things, doesn’t it? It’s more about allowing your children to go their own way, not the way they “should” go. Without the “should” the nature of the verse changes. According to Stuart, the difference comes from the addition of the word “should” in the English translations, something that’s not supported in the original Hebrew. Douglas Stuart from Gordon Theological Seminary holds this view citing many notable scholars. It’s not a guarantee for parents, but rather a warning. God has given us free will to make our own choices, after all.Īnother view of Proverbs 22:6 is that the writer was saying the exact opposite. We all know that we can try our best, and sometimes the results are different than we would have hoped. That interpretation can be problematic, particularly for the “good parents” I know who have seen their older children stray from the faith. People often use this verse as a guarantee that if you raise your children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” ( Ephesians 6:4), they’ll always stay on the right path. What a seemingly simple, but overwhelmingly complicated verse! It’s one of the most quoted – and often misquoted – verses in the Bible ( Proverbs 22:6). “ Train up a child in the way he should go Even when he is old he will not depart from it” ![]()
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