When Parents Learn

By Ron Thomas

    Children will always listen to words of instructions from their parents. This is both a compelling matter and a matter of love. Listen they will, but they learn so much more by the actions of their parents. Sometimes parents, even though they know this, do not allow this understanding to remind them of the importance of living righteously. From their parents, the children learn what is important in their lives. If the Lord is very important, the children learn this by the actions of the parents. On the other hand, if the Lord is not all that important, the children learn this by the actions of the parents as well. At some time in the future, when parents have learned (perhaps relearned) and come to value the Lord’s way differently than they have in previous years, they also learn they are too late to save their children because their earlier actions taught so well! Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6, ASV).

    The moral and spiritual grounding of each person is the starting place of the moral and spiritual grounding of the family. Without the Lord, the moral grounding drifts on the water like a piece of driftwood. Many people have a moral and spiritual grounding in place, but fail to implement it to firmly guide their lives. The byproduct is a family confused about what is important.

- Ron Thomas preacher for the Sunrush Church of Christ, Chillicothe, OH. He may be contacted through the congregation's website. http://sunrushchurchofchrist.com/