Ecclesiastes
5:8 "If you see the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of
judgment and justice.(corruption
of justice).in
a province, marvel not at the matter, for he that is higher than the highest
regards and there be higher than they."
Do we have social and economic justice in society?.Isaiah
59:13,14.
Show children the difference
between those regarding authority as truth rather
than truth as the authority, so they don't grow up immature:.Jeremiah
5:25-29 "Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins
have withholden good things from you. For among my people are found wicked
men. They lay wait as he that sets snares. They set a trap to catch men.(lots
of written legalities for benefit of some, while being detrimental
to many). As a cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit.(deceit
for greedy purposes is their heart).
Therefore they are become great and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they
shine. Yea, they overpass.(they
are not concerned if those like them do wicked things).the
deeds of the wicked. They judge not the cause of the fatherless, yet they
prosper.(all
that is important to them is selfishness)
and the right of the needy do they not judge.(don't
care and don't even consider them).
Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord. Shall not my soul be
avenged on such a nation as this?"
Obviously character development
in
education has been left off with, at least in the case of some
judges. Why?
Teach them that justice
is being fair.
Well, who are the idiot social
managers who would concoct
such things for educating the masses? It's really us all individually
and collectively
reflecting our attitudes into the mass
mind. We can only look within ourselves to correct this or any evil
'out there':.Isaiah
1:16-26.
Parents, determine to make
your children follow your guidelines for their own safety and character
development until they are able to grasp concepts
that will protect them as they grow up.
It may cost you some trouble
and cost them tears, but their lives are worth it, especially so while
they are not yet young adults.
Until they are able to regulate
themselves wisely within the framework of their age and present daily living,
let there be no disputing
and delaying. Sometimes regarding things of safety there is little time
for detailed explanations.
When you give them a command,
let them see plainly that you will have it done and reach their understanding
as to why a course of action or inaction is necessary for their wellbeing
if time allows.
Obedience is the only reality
for them until they are showing qualities
of the soul. Then:.Romans
13:10.
Faith visible. Abraham's
example:.Genesis
18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment,
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him."
Emmanuel at twelve years
old, was subject to His mom and dad:.Luke
2:51 "And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject
unto them, but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart."
Joseph had learned to trust
his dad's wisdom and obeyed him immediately:.Genesis
37:13 "And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock
in Shechem? Come and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here
am I."
Note how Paul describes a
nature one should not have:.2Timothy
3:2-7 "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy....."
Isaiah
3:5.
Children should be trained
to be respectful, then parents would not be embarrassed of them:.1Timothy
3:4,12 ".....having his children in subjection with all gravity.....ruling
their children and their own houses well."
Parents, do you wish to see
your children happy? Take care, then, that you train them that it's important
to follow parent's instructions when they are spoken to. We are not made
for entire independence, we are not fit for it. We need to learn from others
and the first 'others' we need learn from are our parents.
Children cannot learn too
soon that this is a world in which we are not all intended to rule and
that we are never in our right place until we know how to obey our betters.
Teach them to obey while young or else they will be fretting against God
and others all their lives long and will wear themselves out with the vain
idea of being independent of others.
From The
Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle:."You
will see many in this day who allow their children to choose and think
for themselves long before they are able and even make excuses for their
disobedience, as if it were a thing not to be blamed. To my eyes, a parent
always yielding and a child always having its own way are a most painful
sight.
"Train them in telling the
truth. Encourage them in any circumstances to be straightforward and to
speak the truth..(*)
"Train them to redeem the
time.(so
they don't become time wasters, which is life wasting).
Train them to a habit of always redeeming the time. Idleness is the devil's
best friend. It is the surest way to give him an opportunity of doing harm
to themselves and others. An idle mind is like an open door.
"Man must have something
to do or else his soul will soon get into an unhealthy state. We must have
our hands filled and our minds occupied with something or else our imaginations
will soon ferment and breed mischief:.Ezekiel
16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness
of bread and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither
did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
"Everything in the world
around us seems to teach the same lesson. It is the still water which becomes
stagnant and impure. The running, moving streams are always clear. If you
have steam machinery, you must work it or it soon gets out of order. If
you have a horse, you must exercise him; he is never so well as when he
has regular work. If you would have good bodily health yourself, you must
take some exercise. If you always sit still, your body is sure at length
to complain. And just so is it with the soul. Reader, I ask you to set
these things before the minds of your children. Teach them the value of
time and try to make them learn the habit of using it well. It pains me
to see children idling over what they have in hand, whatever it may be.
I love to see them active and industrious and giving their whole heart
to all they do; giving their whole heart to lessons, when they have to
learn; giving their whole heart even to their amusements, when they go
to play. But if you love them well, let idleness be counted a sin in your
family. It is vain to suppose, as a general rule, that children can ever
be brought up without correction. Spoiling is a very expressive word and
sadly full of meaning.".Proverbs
13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13,14; 29:15,17 >> all
on this page.
1Samuel
2:22-25 "Now Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto
all Israel and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do you such
things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons,
for it is no good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people to transgress.
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him, but if a man
sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened
not unto the voice of their father when he said the Lord would slay them."
1Samuel
3:10-13 "And the Lord came and stood and called as at other times,
Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. And
the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both
the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will
perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house.
When I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will
judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons
made themselves vile and he restrained them not."
"See, too, the case of David.
Who can read without pain the history of his children and their sins? Amnon's
incest, Absalom's murder and proud rebellion, Adonijah's scheming ambition.
Truly these were grievous wounds for the man after God's own heart to receive
from his own house. But was there no fault on his side? I fear there can
be no doubt there was. I find a clue to it all in the account of Adonijah
in 1Kings 1:6 where it says that":."His
father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why have you done
so?..."
"There was the foundation
of all the mischief. David was an over indulgent father, a father who let
his children have their own way and he reaped according as he had sown.
Parents, I beseech you, for your children's sake, beware of over indulgence.
You are here to train your children, not to please their every whim.
"You must not give way to
every wish of your child's mind, however much you may love him. You must
not let him suppose his will is to be everything and that he has only to
desire a thing and it will be done. Learn to say 'No' to your children.
Show them that you are able to refuse whatever you think is not fit for
them. Beware of letting small faults pass unnoticed under the idea
"it is a little fault". There are no little things in training children.
All are important. Little weeds need plucking up as much as any. Leave
them alone and they will soon be great weeds. Reader, if there be any point
which deserves your attention, believe me, it is this one. It is one that
will give you trouble, I know. But if you do not take trouble with your
children when they are young, they will give you trouble when they are
old. Choose which you prefer.
"Some parents and nurses
have a way of saying 'Naughty child' to a boy or girl on every slight occasion
and often without good cause. It is a very foolish habit. Words of blame
should never be used without real reason.
"The characters of children
are so exceedingly different, that what would be a severe punishment to
one child, would be no punishment at all to another. Doubtless some parents
use bodily correction far too much and far too violently, but many others,
I fear, use it far too little.
"Depend on it, there is no
surer road to unhappiness than always having our own way. To have
our wills checked and denied is a blessed thing for us. It makes us value
enjoyments when they come. To be indulged perpetually is the way to be
made selfish and selfish people and spoiled children, believe me, are seldom
happy.
"Archbishop Tillotson made
a wise remark when he said "To give children good instruction and a bad
example, is but beckoning to them with the head to show them the way to
heaven, while we take them by the hand and lead them in the way to hell."
We little know the force and power of example. No one of us can live to
himself in this world. We are always influencing those around us, in one
way or another, either for good or for evil. Think not your children will
practice what they do not see you do. You are their model picture and they
will copy what you are. Your reasoning and your lecturing, your wise commands
and your good advice; all this they may not understand, but they can understand
your life. Children are very quick observers; very quick in seeing through
some kinds of hypocrisy, very quick in finding out what you really think
and feel, very quick in adopting all your ways and opinions. You will often
find as the father is, so is the son. He that preaches to his children
what he does not practise, is working a work that never goes forward.
"Violent tempers, self-will,
pride, envy, sullenness, passion, idleness, selfishness, deceit, cunning,
falsehood, hypocrisy, a terrible aptness to learn what is bad, a painful
slowness to learn what is good, a readiness to pretend anything in order
to gain their own ends, all these things or some of them, you must be prepared
to see. In little ways they will creep out at a very early age. It is almost
startling to observe how naturally they seem to spring up. Children require
no schooling to learn evil. But you must not be discouraged and cast down
by what you see. Let it rather make you more diligent in using every means
which seem most likely to counteract the mischief. Let it make you more
and more careful, so far as in you lies, to keep your children out of the
way of temptation. Their hearts are always inflammable as tinder. At their
very best, they only want a spark to set their corruptions alight. Parents
are seldom too cautious. Remember the natural depravity of your children
and take care".Proverbs
22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old,
he will not depart from it."
This is a promise. It speaks
of a certain time when good training shall especially bear fruit "when
a child is old". Surely there is comfort in this. You may not see with
your own eyes the result of careful training, but you know not what blessed
fruits may spring from it, long after you are dead and gone. It is not
God's way to give everything at once:.Ecclesiastes
11:1 "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for you'll find it after many
days."
"Teach them to pray. The
Lord is far more willing to hear than we to pray; far more ready to give
blessings than we to ask them:.Psalms
127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage.(a
gift from God).of
the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward.".And
then ask the Lord, with a holy boldness, to be gracious and merciful to
His own gifts:.Genesis
17:18 "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before
thee!" Judges 13:12 "And Manoah
said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child and
how shall we do unto him?" Job 1:5 "And
it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent
and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt
offerings according to the number of them all.(the
custom back then), for Job said, It
may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did
Job continually."
"And now, reader, in conclusion,
let me once more press upon you the necessity and importance of using every
single means in your power, if you would train children. Home is the place
where habits are formed. Home is the place where the foundations of character
are laid. Home gives the bias to our tastes and likings and opinions. Take
pains to train your children in the way they should go. Truly it is in
your interest so to do. Truly your own happiness in great measure depends
on it.
"Children have caused the
saddest tears that man has ever had to shed. Adam could tell you so. Jacob
could tell you so. David could tell you so. There are no sorrows on Earth
like those which children have brought upon their parents. Oh! take heed,
lest your own neglect should lay up misery for you. Take heed, lest you
weep under the ill treatment of a thankless child. Too often parents feel
not for themselves and so they feel not for their children."
