"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~Proverbs 22:6
I have recently been doing some reflecting and studying on this verse. I also have been learning Biblical Hebrew which means I'm now armed and dangerous. In my musings and studies I came a cross an article that explored the original meaning of this verse based on the Biblical Hebrew from which we get our English translations.
To make a long explanation short and less boring I will just say that the original Hebrew suggest another way in which this verse can be read/interpreted. It is hard to get the exact since in English as it is in Hebrew but it may read something like this: "Train up a child in his way and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Did you catch the subtlety of that minor change? In other words in our child rearing if we just let a child do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and in "his" way then that is the only way he will know. If we train him up in "his" way than he will be raised and taught to think that the world revolves around him and he can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
Often times parenting can just default to this line of thinking and child training. Parenting is hard and often times it just seams like too much work to get a child to obey you and obey the Lord. That's the beautify of this subtle change in the interpretation. It should convict you thoroughly. If you train your child to think that he can live and act however he wants, then when he is all grown up - then that is exactly how will act.
How we raise our children matters now. If we train them now to follow the Lord's way and shepherd the hearts to live obediently now - it matters well into the future. So let's heed this simple advice and this slightly different twist on this well known Proverb. Let's train our children according to God's way, training them to live a life of obedience under God and under the authority of their parents, and not according to their own wants and desires because until the begin to learn otherwise, they are sinful sinners, saved by grace, who need a little guidance ... just like all of us. Right?
