PTF 2023
As parents and teachers we have an incredibly important and challenging, and at times seemingly overwhelming, God given assignment.
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) starts out by saying:
Train up a child in the way he should go:
Scripture tells us to teach our children. (Deuteronomy 11:19 NLT)
It’s our role to:
Train Guide Teach Direct Instruct or Disciple
our children in the way they should go.
Scripture says we are to bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. Eph 6:4
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
What does this proverb communicate?
Good training establishes lifelong habits, patterns, and values.
Who is this proverb addressing?
Who is responsible for the training of children?
Parents have the primary responsibility for training their children.
Grandparents, teachers, and others come along side of the parents in a partnership to train children, but let me repeat, in a two parent family, both the mom and dad have the primary role of training their children.
It’s encouraging to know that God also plays a major role this assignment, and in fact He does the hard work.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 NLT
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
One plants the seed (parents), one waters the seed (teachers, grandparents, others), but it is God who makes the seed grow.
We need to let God do His part.
Psalm 127:1 NLT
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Back to the assignment: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Let me suggest a Biblical principle you want your children to know and practice?
This is found in:
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Imagine what could happen if you spent the next 12 to 15 years training your children to put their hope in the Lord, not in themselves.
Imagine what could happen if your children, over a period of time, truly leaned the importance of living a Christ-centered life.
Imagine what could happen if your children leaned to:
Trust in the Lord with all their heart;
and not depend on their own understanding.
In 12-15 years from now they would go off to college
Trusting in the Lord with all their heart;
and not depending on their own understanding.
Later when they are starting a family they would be
Trusting in the Lord with all their heart;
and not depending on their own understanding.
They would be teaching their children, your grandchildren to
5 Trust in the Lord with all their heart;
…not depending on their own understanding.
Don’t forget: Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 29:17 NLT says:
17 Discipline (disciple, train, or instruct) your children, and they will give you peace of mind
and will make your heart glad
How do we do this?
How do we Train up a child in the way he should go:
Let me give you a starting point.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NLT)
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Verses 5-6 tell us two things we as adults, as parents, as teachers “must” do.
We read:
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
we must “Love God with every fiber of our being.”
We must have a right relationship with God.
The passage goes on to say:
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
We must know God’s Word – We must spend time in the Word.
This takes commitment – effort – work – on our part.
We cannot have a right relationship with God if we do not know what His word says.
When we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the scriptures we will know God better and gain a better understanding of His will for our lives.
This passage goes on to say:
7 Repeat them (God’s instructions) again and again to your children.
Repeat Biblical truths again and again to your children.
Talk about them (Biblical truths) when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
When you are at home.
When you are eating breakfast.
When you are on the road (car groups).
When you are eating dinner.
When you are getting ready for bed.
YOU SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT GOD, JESUS, AND BIBLICAL TRUTHS WITH YOUR CHILDREN ALL DAY LONG.
8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Surround yourself and your family with visual reminders of the message of God’s Word.
What do people see when they walk into your house.
What kinds of pictures or plaques are on display in your home?
What is on display in your children’s bedrooms?
Be creative in the ways you surround yourself with reminders of the messages of God’s Word. Fill your house with reminders of God and His Word.
More importantly, fill your thoughts, fill your minds, with God’s Word.
Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
My challenge to you is that you make this a #1 priority for your life.
