Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 NIV
Pointing our Children to God
There is a real conundrum that exists in the parenting realm today. The difficult part of pointing our children towards a healthy direction rooted in scripture is that of modern-day society.
However, in Proverbs, we find that there is no mincing of words and that as parents we must commit ourselves to the Godly training and discipline of our children.
The Hebrew word “train” means to dedicate. Thus we as parents should seek to dedicate the direction of our children to God and His will. This is done by directing them away from worldly influences and in the direction of Godly behaviors.
Guiding Their Direction
I recently returned from a trip to Colorado with my 12-year-old daughter, Sophia. On this trip, my intention was to learn what direction she should go in life. What I quickly learned was that as her father, it was partially up to me to point her in the right direction that she “should” go and not the direction I “thought she should” go.
This direction change for me as a parent was significant as I reflected on how, in my upbringing, I received little to no direction.
As a child who received little to no direction, I overcompensated and found that I was forming the direction I “thought” my children should go, rather than the way they “should” go according to their individual design and purpose in Christ.
On the final day of our Colorado trip, the dads were charged with giving a Blessing of Direction to our daughters. There are two essential ingredients of direction vital to a meaningful blessing for our children.
- The characteristic direction of their hearts.
- The characteristic vision and direction of their future.
Another meaning of the word “train” is to give meaning or cultivate a taste for.
Giving direction to our children means pointing them in a direction where we encourage them to seek God for themselves. Giving them direction to enjoy real spiritual experiences with the Living God that they will always remember, and point them in the direction that is intrinsically connected to who they are designed to be so that when they are old, they will not go in a different direction.
This devotion originally appeared on Devotable written by Don Mann
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