Training your child

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

The Hebrew word for "train" has to do with the inside of the mouth – the gums, palate, or the roof of the mouth, and it refers to the use of a bit or bridle that is placed in the mouth of an untamed horse. This is used to make a wild horse into submission.

James 3:3 gives further explanation of the use of the bit. It says, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.”

It is necessary to train or bring a child into submission, so that he will obey us and therefore turn about his whole direction.

In the practical sense, it is generally accepted that to "train up" is meant the careful nurturing, instructing and disciplining of the child in an attempt to inculcate a wise and moral character.


.... to be continued.