“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NLT)
The highest responsibility of all parents is “directing [their] children onto the right path.” I can't think of any other task that is more important, takes more wisdom, involves more effort, or has more eternal rewards. Nothing crushes the heart or breaks the spirit of a parent more than knowing his/her child isn’t on the “right path” and is headed toward some kind of destruction (temporal or eternal). Children don’t have the wisdom or capacity to always make good choices without the loving, godly guidance of their parents. Sometimes that means saying “yes” to what they want to do. Sometimes that means saying “no” to their desires, even though it makes a parent unpopular with them for a time. Our job as parents is not to be our child’s best friend. It’s to be our child’s best overseer, advisor, guide and spiritual example. It's to love them unconditionally and make decisions that are in their best interest! Children are pulled in every conceivable direction to conform to society's norms. Without diligent and careful “thought out parenting” it is impossible to stay ahead of all the pressures placed on kids these days. The expectations and influence of schools, coaches, parents, peers, leagues, media, etc., etc., has turned some of our youth into “neurotics” (or worse) and stolen their childhoods. The formative years of a child’s life should primarily be about the basic skills that will go with them the rest of their lives. It should be about having fun, learning to get along with others, loving family, character development, spiritual development, solid education, etc. Too many parents push their children to be adults before they’ve ever been a child and the KIDS in adulthood are reaping the consequences. We’ve got to ask God to give us wisdom and search His Word for direction to nurture our children according to His will and His ways! Seeing your child grow up to follow God is THE (!!) single most rewarding outcome you will ever know in life. The Apostle John wrote, “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.” (3 John 1:4 NLT) This verse in Proverbs doesn’t promise that a child will never make a wrong decision that won’t disappoint his/her parents. What it says is that you stack the odds in your favor (God’s favor) when you “direct your children,” rather than letting them chose for themselves. The Psalmist likens children to “arrows” that have to be aimed at the right target. And, the right target is God living in them and through them first, foremost and forever! (cf. Ps. 127:4)
