Friday, February 25, 2011

Train Up A Child?

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

What does this really mean?

I always thought it meant to teach the right from wrong, how to make decisions through life, and to have good morals. Yes, it does mean all of this, BUT THERE'S MORE!!!!

I have just recently started realizing a lot of what I'm missing in my training. I am starting to realize that I (not just the church, but ME) am suppose to also be SPIRITUALLY training them. I am suppose to be reading the word to them and allowing them to question me.
About ten or eleven years ago (before I even started THINKING about moving towards being a preacher. I knew that's what I was suppose to do, but didn't think in terms of doing it yet) I had a girl in our youth group come to me (ME. A person who was in the same age group, no leadership abilities, nothing) and asked me to help her pray that she would receive the Holy Ghost. I blew it. I went to one of our youth leaders and told her. She of course went and prayed with her (I had NO IDEA how to do it) and we walked away. That young lady was not filled that night (haven't heard from her since we quit going there, so I am unsure if she ever did) and I wasn't really content with the outcome myself.

Now that I have yielded to the calling and have been filled with the spirit myself, I still think back on what I should have done differently. I NOW know that she didn't mean right then and there, and that she was confiding in me to pray for her as she was seeking.

Now I realize that I MUST TRAIN UP MY CHILDREN with the knowledge of God. They MUST KNOW that Jesus loves them and came to earth to die so that we could be free from sin and make heaven our home. The MUST KNOW of the gift of the Holy Spirit and how it empowers us to make it through life, to be witnesses, and I MUST TRAIN THEM TO SEEK GOD AND TO BE AVAILABLE TO PRAY WITH OTHERS WHEN THEY ARE TRULY OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THE FULLNESS OF THEIR CALLING.

What are you doing to train up your child? Do they know of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit? SURELY THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO TRAIN UP A CHILD!!!!

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