Being a parent is all about responsibility. We have a duty to house, clothe, and feed the little ones we bring into the world. We are the people who must set the example we want our children to follow.
Ethan Couch was a wealthy Texas teenager in 2013 when his truck hit another car, killing four people and leaving one of his best friends a near-vegetable. His defense attorney claimed “affluenza,” that Ethan’s wealth prevented him from understanding the consequences of his actions. He received ten years’ probation.
In 2015 Ethan broke his probation; and he and his mother disappeared, effectively dismantling his defense.
Proverbs 22:6 tells us:
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
What if we train a child in the wrong way? Will he continue to travel that road also? Part of Ethan’s defense was that he was unmonitored as a young teen, without curfews or limits set on his activities.
Proverbs 29:15 says:
“The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
The “rod and reproof” stand for the curfews and limits we set on our children. They are our guide, our set of instructions for how we want them to behave as adults.
Perhaps we need to pay attention to these three verses:
Romans 8:16 reminds us of our place in the scheme of things:
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Ephesians 6:4 is our instruction to raise our charges in a responsible manner:
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Mark 9:42 illustrates the gravity of getting it wrong:
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
Let’s sit in our child’s seat. Let’s take a moment to see the world from his viewpoint. Let’s see our leadership role from her eyes.
Psalm 127:3 reveals that our children are more than a reflection of our own egos:
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
Matthew 18:4 tells us they can be an example for us:
“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Proverbs 22:6 tells us that (yes, this bears repeating) how our children turn out falls on our shoulders:
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Ethan Couch may lack the ability to understand the consequences of his actions, but his parents are right there with him. His father once impersonated a police officer and pulled his son out of school when officials questioned the boy driving himself to school at age 13. His mother left the country with her son to keep him from time behind bars.
Our kids come to us as blank slates, looking to us for guidance. However they turn out, they will have learned it from us.
When we follow the training we get from God, we will mature in the image of God.
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Code: FGO.L.19.15.vp.esv