Train Up a Child

 

Train Up a Child

We cannot leave our youth with no place to go

As Sandy and I see the shutting down of social activities

 We remember how important the Church Youth Group and Sunday School

Were to shaping our soul

The death toll from Corona is far greater than those who die of the disease

Our youth are dying

 The effect on the soul of our youth will affect those who live to become seniors  

Our parents need help in raising their children

We need to pray and look for ways to involve our youth in positive relationships

There are thousands of men and women who love youth

Who have sacrificed their time and resources to lead our youth in church programs

But now are put on the sidelines

Pray for those with a passion to help our youth

Find ways to continue reaching our youth

We cannot cut our children off because

 
Foolishness is in the heart of a child

 

 

Train Up a Child

 

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn from it.

 

Training of our youth.

 

Training is a large subject…

 

From Schools, Sports, Social Programs,

Church Youth Groups and School.

 

As grandparents, Sandy and I realize

it takes a tribe to raise a family.

 

Sandy and I have said we will never become the

regular daily babysitters of our grandchildren.

 

That does not mean we don’t

watch them from time to time.

 

What it means is…

 

 We do not want the role of

raising our grandchildren.

 

We want to be grandparents

to them, not parents.

 

The training of a parent is different than

that of the grandparent.

 

 And the training of the schools, programs and

church is another role in training of our youth.

 

There are those young couples,

when they have their first child,

are ready to write a book on parenting.

 

 But over the years,

 find out how little they knew.

 

I believe training up a child starts with the parents.

 

All other roles should have

the goal of supporting parents.

 

The verse before “Train up a child” says…

 

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,

but he who guards his soul stays far from them.

Proverbs 22:5

 

The “soul” from changing diapers

and feeding to education and training…

 

 There is nothing more important

than the soul of the child.

 

There are always things shaping a soul, but…

 

The shape of the soul as senior citizens is greatly

shaped and molded in the first 20 years of life…

 

These are the years we learn by imitating.

 

The other day I was watching

the Toledo News on TV.

 

In a quiet neighborhood, gun shots rang

out and another youth was murdered.

 

A woman was interviewed…

 

 She said with the Corona Pandemic our children

do not have the healthy actives they used to.

 

Lieutenant Gerken said…

 

 It’s been a busy summer for Toledo police. But Toledo isn’t alone.

“If you look at the national news, everybody’s having issues,” he said.

 

Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, spokesman for the department, said Toledo contacted other Ohio cities recently, wondering whether they too were experiencing an increase in homicides. The data collected show they are, she said.

Cincinnati, for example, tallied 31 homicides from March through June, 2019. That number spiked to 50 during the same period in 2020. Akron counted 20 homicides in the first six months of this year, up from 14 in the first half of 2019.

What role the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has played in the violence,

no one can really say, Lieutenant Gerken said.

 

We may not really know the role the ongoing

Coronavirus Pandemic has played in the violence…

 

But the numbers are rising.

 

Proverbs 22:15 says…

 

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child

 

We cannot leave our youth with no place to go.

 

As Sandy and I see the shutting down

of social activities…

 

 We remember how important the Church Youth Group

and Sunday School were to shaping our soul.

 

The death toll from Corona is far greater

than those who die of the disease.

 

Our youth are dying.

 

 The effect on the soul of our youth will affect

those who live to become seniors.

Our parents need help in raising their children.

 

We need to pray and look for ways to

involve our youth in positive relationships.

 

There are thousands of men and women

who love youth.

 

 Who have sacrificed their time and resources

to lead our youth in church programs,

 but now are put on the sidelines.

 

Pray for those with a passion to help our

youth, to find ways to continue reaching our youth.

 

We cannot cut our children off because…

 
Foolishness is in the heart of a child

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

Proverbs 22:1-16 NIV

 

A good name is more desirable than great riches;

to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

2 Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.

3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,

but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

4 Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

5 In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,

but he who guards his soul stays far from them.

6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

8 He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

11 He who loves a pure heart

and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,

but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or,

"I will be murdered in the streets!"

14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;

he who is under the LORD's wrath will fall into it.

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth

and he who gives gifts to the rich — both come to poverty.