How to Train Up A Child According to the Bible

train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart from it. This is a very well-known and famous probably the most famous verse when it comes to raising children, and on this episode I wanna dive a little bit deeper into the Hebrew word used for train up.

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Now this verse is Proverbs 22-6. That says again train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now, the Hebrew word used here is Hanak, which is to dedicate, or to train or to teach. And what does that really mean, though? Well, to dedicate means to set apart for a particular use. It could be used for a building as well as for a child. We're setting it apart, or setting him or her apart for a particular use and it also means to train and to teach, so to develop their behavior and to give them moral instruction, to give them guidelines for life, and it also means to help them become who God created them to be. There is something unique about every person, about every child, and we need to be able to help bring that fruit out, help bring that forth in the way that we raise them and train them and bring them up. But there's another meaning in this Hebrew word, hanak, that I wanna make sure that we understand, and it comes in Genesis, chapter 14, verse 14. And this refers to trained men, and so what that's referring to is men who were trained in weapons of war. That's right, trained in weapons of war. Now, if you're gonna train your child in the weapon of war, what weapons should they be trained in? Well, if we look at Ephesians 6, we have what is called the armor of God, and what is the only offensive weapon we have there? The sword of truth, the word of God, and so our children must be trained in the word of God.

One of the best definitions that I've heard for the word leadership is the ability to create an appetite in someone else. I just love that definition. I think it's so powerful and I think that we wanna be creating an appetite for God himself, for Jesus, in our children and really in all of those around us that we interact with. But how do we create that appetite? Well, I submit to you that the best way, the most effective way to create an appetite in someone else is to become and demonstrate that appetite yourself. You see, what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 11, verse one? He says be imitators of me as I am of Christ. You see, paul was imitating Christ, and so we should imitate Paul, and you should be imitating Christ so that your children and so that others around you can also imitate you and will therefore be imitating Christ. Well, this is a very powerful and convicting thought to go into, but it's an aspiration that we need to be going towards. We need to become the example everywhere, and what that means is that we cannot outsource the raising of our kids. We cannot outsource the spiritual development and guidance of our children. It's not the job of the church, it's not the job of the youth pastor, it's not the job of the government, it's not the job of the school, it's not the job of the childcare, it's not the job of anybody else but the parent, and if they choose to partner with others, the parent remains primary, and that is the final word. So that means we need to be intentional with how we raise our children and how we interact with others around us.

If you knew your child was going to a war at age 12, how would you prepare them? Well, that's exactly what's happening. In fact, they're in a war already. It is a spiritual battle every day, every moment of every day, and that's where we need to be preparing them. So the question is how soon should you start preparing them?

Well, many people pray for children even before they're conceived, and my wife and I read the Bible to our son before he was born, and so it's never too early to start preparing your children for battle Now. You don't have to overthink this or overdo it. You can just simply ask the Lord what does this look like for me? How can I walk this out? I think so often we'd be better served by just seeking the Lord and asking him for what we need to do and how we can partner together with him and get him into the details, than it would we ask a hundred people their opinion At one point. All I did was take a verse that impacted me from my daily time with the Lord, and I shared that with my wife and my son. It could be as simple as that, and it ends up being a 30 minute discussion sometimes, and sometimes it's just a real quick thought. So just start somewhere and be faithful to that, but the biggest area that we really need to focus on is becoming that example that our children and others will see.

There's one final verse that I want to mention before we go, and that's Matthew 18.6. It says but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. That's a powerful picture. A millstone is not a little rock. A millstone is a 3,000 pound rock. That is the emphasis in how serious that Jesus takes how we train up and treat our little ones, and so we can't let the medical industry or anybody else take the lead on how to train up our little ones. We know what's best and we need to be pursuing Christ so that we can be that example that God made us to be.

If you want help on becoming that example or to strengthen the current example that you have, I want to invite you to get my free download 21 days to a spirit led life. You can find the link in the show notes. I also got some training. You can get that's also in the show notes. Make sure you like and subscribe and leave a comment below. If you're listening to the audio of this, you can find the link to the video in the show notes. Thanks for joining. God bless and we'll see you in the next episode.