Training Children
By Roy Loney
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I well remember the night of November 19, 1922. Then, for the first time, I held the little body of my firstborn son. My wife and I that night realized the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. There was a feeling of great happiness and responsibility in my heart. The Lord had put that child in my care to be developed for His glory and its own eternal well-being. Since that memorable night five more children have been born to us, and as I write these lines I am partly surrounded by grandchildren happily playing. I rejoice when I see their mother, my youngest child, and her Christian husband, read Bible stories to them, and kneel with them in humble petition that the Father's love will provide for their every need. One by one my children have yielded to the claims of the gospel and been baptized in Christ Jesus. Many times they have caused us grief and worry, but we have the satisfaction of believing that they try to walk in ways that are pleasing to the heavenly Father.
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We are prone to forget Solomon's statement, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6). Boys do not grow up into honorable men by accident. Pure and noble women are not the result of blind chance. It takes years of technical teaching to make one a doctor of medicine, yet we foolishly assume that because we are "respectable" members of the church, our children, without training, will be educated in the science of moral and spiritual living. What a fatuous delusion! Home influence can be strong, yet outside the home, where our children spend so many hours, there are devilish influences at work. Satan never sleeps! While you snore in senseless slumber a thousand influences are at work to lure your child to the pits of hell. The fact that you belong to the church is no guarantee your children will go to heaven. They are as apt to go to hell as any others unless they are taught and warned against the pitfalls of sin. Some of the world's worst criminals came from so-called Christian homes.
Good only grows from good seed; and it will not produce a crop unless planted in properly prepared soil. The soil for righteousness is in "good and honest hearts" which are found only where proper teaching and guidance have been given by dedicated parents. Some parents foolishly think they are training their children when they whip them for each act of misconduct. It is true that "foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction will drive it from him" (Prov. 22:15), but it takes more than corporal punishment, which is chiefly negative, to cause a child to love righteousness. A heart barren of evil can at the same time be barren of the high ideals of righteousness. I believe in the rod of correction, for "he that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" (Prov. 13:24). Sound spanking has cured many children of evil tendencies, but no child will grow into a person of goodness without constant teaching in the principles that make for real manhood and womanhood.
I was once in a home where the razor strop, hair brush, and switches were in almost constant use, yet the children seemed to grow more disorderly because the parents did not instruct them in the principles which would cause them to desire to do right. The children refrained from evil doing through fear, not through loving obedience. Parents must teach the incentives for such obedience. Upon this principle God dealt with the Israelites. His curses against disobedience were preceded by an enumeration of the blessings which would follow obedience (Read Deuteronomy, chapters 27 and 28). Thus, too, should parents deal with their children. Inasmuch as "perfect love casts out fear" and "the goodness of God leadeth to repentance" (Rom. 2:4) we have revealed the incentives by which our children can be influenced to lead lives of righteousness. Our heavenly Father is more than an avenger of evil. He is also "a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). One will not aspire to goodness unless he understands the blessings that follow goodness, and this is certainly true of children. Some of the world's worst criminals became depraved because the love of goodness was never planted in their hearts. It is not enough to know that "the wages of sin is death." It is necessary that we also learn that "the gift
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Our greatest need is a revival of the family altar in our homes. The most pleasant memories I have of my own childhood center around the evening hour when father and mother would gather their large brood of children and sing in reverence the songs of Zion, read with impressive emphasis from God's word, then take their children with them before the throne of heavenly grace in prayer for wisdom and grace. They tried to rear their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4), and today those who survive rise up and call them blessed. I have little recollection of the many spankings I justly received, but I have a very keen recollection of the serious talks with my mother about the evils of sin and blessings of righteousness.
J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, states: "The escapades of teenagers today indicate a breaking down of the moral fiber of the country. There is less respect for law and order than ever before. A survey of 116 federal and state prisons reveals that more than 20% of their inmates are under 21 years of age. One third of the murders and one half of the robberies are being committed by youths under 25 years of age. An army of six million gangsters and thugs of every description are walking the streets of America today. The fact is all the more sobering when it is learned that this horde of warped humanity is spearheaded by juveniles." (Watch for another article on this topic.)