One of God's greatest praises for the great man Abraham is found in 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." God knew Abraham would train his children to follow the ways of God. If God knew Christians would do the same thing, His church would never die anywhere.
Children are a great blessing to parents, but children are also a great responsibility to parents. The parents must care for their children both physically and spiritually. The parents who provide for a child's physical needs but neglect a child's spiritual needs only half care for the child.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proper spiritual training of children will produce Christian men and women. A child will become the kind of person he learns to be. A child must learn his attitudes and actions. The child learns most of these things from his parents. The greatest responsibility for spiritual teaching belongs to the parents.
In the Old Testament the Jews were given strong commandments instructing them to spiritually train their children. They were to teach their children the real meaning of the Jewish Passover (Exodus 12:26, 27). They were to teach their children how God gave the law to the Jews (Deuteronomy 4:9, 10). They were told to teach their children the word of the Lord every day and give their children continual religious training (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:18-21; 32:46). These responsibilities belonged to the parents. It was their job to see their children received proper spiritual training.
Surely Christians of today cannot do less to train their children than the Jews of the Old Testament did. As the Jews had to teach their children about Passover, Christians must teach their children the real meaning of the Lord's Supper and the meaning of worship. As the Jews had to teach their children the law, Christians must teach their children to love and to respect Christ and his word. As the Jews had to teach their children daily, the Christian must teach his children daily in and out of the home by using the Bible, by his Christian lifestyle, by his attitude, and by the way he treats all people.
Ephesians 6:1-4 states the following: (1) Children should obey their parents and give their parents honor. (2) Fathers are not to abuse their children, but are to spiritually feed (nurture) them by giving them fair proper discipline and by giving them proper encouragement. Colossians 3:20,21 says children are to obey their parents, and fathers should not abuse their children causing the children to be discouraged.
No parent who is a Christian can refuse the responsibility to be a Christian parent. Christian parents who train their children well shall receive great honor when their sons and daughters become men and women. Christian parents who fail to train properly their children shall be shamed by their children's lifestyle. Bring your children to worship and Bible classes. Teach them to listen. Teach them Christianity in your home.
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