Principle
Parents must teach their children God’s instructions.
Explanation
For things to be well with children, their parents must teach them. So it is with learning GOD’s truths, instructions, ordinances, and judgments.
Moses wrote:
4 These are the ordinances and the judgments the Lord commanded the children of Israel in the desert, when they came from the land of Egypt: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 5 You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, and from your whole power. 6 So these words I command you today shall be in your heart and in your soul. 7 You shall teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and it shall be immovable before your eyes; 9 and you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things you did not fill, and hewn-out wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—and when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brings you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and you shall cling to Him and take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after different gods, the gods of the nations around you, 15 because the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 6:4-15 OSB
While these verses were given specifically to the children of Israel in reference to keeping the Law of Moses, this is also a universal truth for all generations.
Though each person is ultimately responsible for their own actions, how a child is taught, trained, and raised up goes a long way to establishing their foundation and determining their ultimate character and resulting behavior.
The apostle Paul wrote:
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4 NIV
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