Speaking about our children, Paul said in Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers … bring them up in
the training and instruction of the Lord." This is not simply a good idea or something we
are called upon to think about, it is a command of God. He gives us as fathers the role of
leader, provider, and protector in our families. Along with that He gives us responsibility
for our children and how they are trained up. It is not a responsibility we can delegate.
Our children are not our property. They are given to us by God for a time. For what
purpose? Not to please ourselves or to bring joy into our lives. No, our task is to realize
that they have to be brought up not only to live in this world but most especially for the
salvation of their souls and the building of their faith.
Paul is telling us what parenthood is all about and what its function is. A newborn baby
is like a block of wood that we must carve on as the years go by to shape the child. Most
parents have no idea what they want the block to look like and so carve it accordingly.
Paul gives us direction so we will know the beauty of the carving, if only we will see that
vision, and if only we will be faithful to carve it.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not turn from it."
Its interesting, but sad to think about the effort some people make to raise dogs, cats or
horses to be prize winners. The money and time spent on breeding and training. Much
thought is given as to what they are trying to accomplish. They know what they want
the animal to look like and what skills it must possess.
But consider the time and thought that the average parent gives to evaluate positively
how to rear their children and what they are to be like when they are grown. If they gave
as much thought and effort to the rearing of their children as they do to the raising of
animals and even gardens, the situation would be very different.
So I say again, what is our task? What is the block to look like after all the carving is
done? We must take a moment and consider the task at hand. We are the guardians of
the souls of these children. What an awesome and dread responsibility. Can you
fathom it?
Do you understand the infinitely great responsibility you bear as a parent? Does this
responsibility weigh as heavily upon you as the responsibility you feel in other realms,
like work or hobbies or recreation. I know people that spend more time thinking and
planning out a season of hunting or fishing than they do the lives of their children. How
darkened is their thinking? What about you? Examine yourself.
"Fathers … bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" is the positive
command of God. In the KJV its says "Fathers … bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord."
The two words used here are key. Nurture and admonition. Nurture is much more
general and includes general principles of discipline and evokes the idea of action. We
must look at our actions in how we nurture, discipline and bring up our children. It
includes all the actions we take to cultivate the mind and the spirit, the morals and the
behavior of our child.
The second word, admonition, refers to words which are spoken. It cares the same
meaning as nurture but the focus is more on the words spoken than the action taken.
The emphasis on this part is what we say.
Thus there are two aspects of this matter. First, we have to deal with general conduct
and behavior, the things we have to do by actions. Then, in addition, there are certain
admonitions that should be addressed to the child, words of correction and words of
encouragement; words of instruction and words of rebuke.
As important as those two words, nurture and admonition, are, there is something even
more important there. The phrase “of the Lord”. This points out where Christian
parents are in an entirely different category from all other parents. We are not to simply
instruct and train up our children to be morally good or have good manners or to be a
good citizen. Certainly we are concerned about those things, but as a Christian there is
more. All of our training of our children is to be biblically based. They must be taught to
think like a Christian.
Our children are to be brought up in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior
and as Lord of all of their life. This is the special task to which Christian parents alone
are called. This cannot be delegated to another, certainly not to a public school system
that restricts the mention of the Lord's name, prohibits the use of the Bible, prohibits the
posting of the 10 commandments, and limits prayer.
Not only ought we train them up in this way, it must also be our supreme task and our
greatest desire. Is your greatest desire as a parent for your children to be saved and
growing as Christians? Examine yourself.
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