TRAIN UP A CHILD

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Pro 22:6) Many times I have heard this verse discussed in sermons and in conversations between individuals. And to the best of my recollection every single time it has been misapplied.

The common usage of the verse, which I am familiar with, is that if you raise a child properly then, even if he goes astray after he becomes an adult and gets out on his own, when he reaches old age he will `return to his raising.' Or in other words, if you raise a child in the Church, and he leaves the Church after he is grown, that you need not worry because he will return to the Church when he is old.

This is indeed a consoling thought for those who are parents of children who have left the Church. It is very comforting to think you did a good job raising your children and that after they get through `sowing their wild oats' they will settle down and live like they were raised. It has been my experience that those who discuss this verse often are those who have grown children who have left the Church.

I do not seek to discourage anyone from the hope that their children might repent. However, I feel it necessary to point out that this verse does not teach what so many believe that it does. If we examine the verse closely this will become very apparent. The verse says nothing about a child ever returning to the way he was raised. It simply points out that, as a general rule, if a child is raised properly then he will never depart from the way he was raised, even when he is old.

For those who do have wayward children don't give up hope. Continue to pray and do everything you can to persuade them to repent and return to the Church. Because even though this verse doesn't teach that they WILL return, neither does it, or any other passage, teach that they WON'T return.