Training Children

by Nate Wilson based on Denny Kennaston’s Godly Home series, 15 May 2011, 18 Nov 2018

Intro:

Scripture Principle #1:Train up a child   חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר, עַל-פִּי דַרְכּוֹ

Turn to Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (KJV)

“Initiate for a child over bounding of his way, for he will grow old and also he will not turn away from it.” ~NAW

The Hebrew word translated “train up” is only used four other times in the Bible, and in all four instances it refers to a house which is being dedicated for its first use. (Deut. 20:5; 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron. 7:5) The idea is that the direction in which a beginner is set will define the rest of his life.

Scripture Principle #2: Childhood is A God-given window for teaching

Isaiah 28:9-10 “Who will teach knowledge and who will cause understanding of what is heard? Those weaned from milk? Those taken from the breasts? For, ‘Precept to precept, precept to precept, line to line, line to line, a little there, a little there.’” (NAW)

Scripture Principle #3: Deuteronomy 6:4-7 – When fathers should teach

NASB "...These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”


With these principles from Prov. 22:6, Isa. 28:9, and Deut. 6:7 in mind, I want to outline five strategies for “training,” “teaching,” and “sharpening” the children God has given us:

1. Cultivate the spirit of a teacher


God has provided the resources for us:


Exhortation from Proverbs 4:1-8

“Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding, For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live; Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.” (NASB)

2. Use Family Devotions as your primary teaching tool


a) Sing:


b) Read the Bible.


c) Pray

3. Use the power of enthusiasm to train positively


This means, parents, we need to set our affections and hopes in the right place!


If you take consistent discipline

and weave that together with interesting teaching from the word of God

and then wrap around that the enthusiastic example of your life, you will be successful.

“When it’s all said and done, you’ll have what you settle for.”

4. Keep the end-goal in mind

Picture in your mind a king on the day the queen bears a son. The newborn son is handed to the king. What does that king think?

If a king would think this way, should we do anything less? We are raising children for the King of Kings! But so often we are lacking in direction and purpose with raising our children.


We need to keep in our mind a vision of the end product of a mature man or woman who loves God with all their heart. This requires being able to work incrementally toward that goal.


Do you know how animal trainers train a tiger to walk on a tightrope?

Parents are like tiger trainers. You don’t have to get there overnight, but you need to know where you’re going. Let those little tigers start walking on the boards, but keep stretching them: move the boards on edge, and stretch the cables, and so on.

5. Take time alone to talk with your children


Well, there it is, five positive strategies Christian parents can use (in addition to using the rod) which I gleaned from a seminar by godly man named Denny Kenaston, and which I’ve been using for almost two decades, and which I recommend to all of you:

1. Cultivate the spirit of a teacher in obedience and reliance upon God.

2. Use Family Devotions as your primary teaching tool.

3. Set your hopes and affections in the right place and use the power of enthusiasm.

4. Keep the end goal of maturity in mind and work bit by bit toward it.

5. Take time alone to talk with your children and shower them with love.