Train Up A Child...

I have always enjoyed being around kids. Now that mine are getting a little older (11 & 7) I can now enjoy holding people's babies and then hand them back when they create a stinky present. Before coming to Green Bay I spent eleven and a half years in ministry to students under the age of 18. Those years involved some great joys and also some amazing challenges. Raising children of any age can be tough. But as culture changes, so do the challenges that parents face in ensuring their child is raised with a healthy set of moral and spiritual boundaries.

In Proverbs 22:6 it says, " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." This verse is one those we refer to as "a command, followed by a promise". With varying adult roles in the life of a child this command could be directed at the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles; but at the core it's the parents. We are responsible for training our children and setting the example for their lives. We can each think of a child (regardless of age) whose behavior or actions where outrageous or out of control. Anytime we see that, they are either mimicking the behavior modeled before them or their behavior is a representation of how they are allowed to behave on a regular basis. I'm no child psychologist, but some things are common sense. If your child pitches a fit because they want something, and you give it to them to stop the fit; you have just trained them that they will get what they want when they pitch a fit. If you set rules for your teenage student, they break them, and you do nothing, you've just undermined your own authority and they will no longer respect you. What's worse is when you threaten consequences, but don't follow through. That is negative training. If we don't like the behavior or actions of our children the first place we need to bring correction is to ourselves. Because most of the time, they are behaving in the ways we've allowed them to.

It is OUR responsibility to train our children. Not the school system, not Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, not even the church or it's programs. We have to take personal responsibility to do that. It must be intentional and it must be constant.

Next week I will give you some simple ideas of how to effectively train your kids. Maybe you don't have kids, well the percentages are high that you will; so learn this now. Maybe yours are grown and out of the home. Well, you are actually still responsible for pointing your children in the right direction. I still consult my parents in major life decisions and their advice and wisdom is very important to me.

If you have kids at home, evaluate who they are becoming; behavior, attitudes, habits, self-control, discipline problems, etc. Then evaluate how your training methods are either contributing positively or negatively.

Have a great week!