Parents and Children
Proverbs • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Children Should Heed Their Parents’ Teaching
Children Should Heed Their Parents’ Teaching
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.
In Hebrew culture, it was the role of both mother and father to teach the children the commandments of the Lord. In other words, not only should they be taught what the law of the Lord says, there should also be an example set for them. But it is the role of the children to take these instructions and apply them to their lives.
The Parents’ Basic Responsibility
The Parents’ Basic Responsibility
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
I wish I had said this at the beginning of the study in Proverbs but it is important to keep in mind that the outcomes stated in various proverbs are probable outcomes rather than promised outcomes. This much is true when we consider that each child has an opportunity to choose which way that they go. This is certainly one of the scariest things about being a parent. But it is probable that if they are raised in the right way, then they will keep that way and not depart from it.
The idea of “train up” is very similar to the language used when a child was dedicated in the temple. It begins from a young age and prepares the child for future responsibilities.
What is the “way that he should go”? This is living in a way of wisdom. Living in righteousness.
Verses 4, 11, 16, and 29.
The Need for Discipline
The Need for Discipline
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.
The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
Why do children need discipline in the first place? Because they are depraved like the rest of mankind.
The punishment that we make must be serious enough to correct the child. Discipline is both positive and negative. Reinforcing good behavior and correcting bad behavior.
Discipline is a labor of love. In the same way that God the Father disciplines us as His children. (3:12, 13:24)
Discipline drives foolishness from the child’s heart. (22:15)
Provides wisdom to the children. (29:15)
Delivers them from hell. (23:14)
How Not to Treat Your Parents
How Not to Treat Your Parents
If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who destroys.
The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
There are consequences for disrespectful behavior aimed at parents.
Parents can make their parents glad or sad
Parents can make their parents glad or sad
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.
A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.
The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
Is the purpose of these to motivate the parent or to motivate the child? It would seem both for the most part, though 23 seems to be particularly aimed at children.
The main theme here is for a child to become foolish, the opposite of wise, will cause their parents shame.
