Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
it” (KJV). In your thread, you will need to defend your position regarding this passage being either a
promise or a principle. Then you will need to identify at least 3 issues that might impede the training of a
child in the way they should go; however, you will need to be familiar enough with your peers’ threads so
that you are not repeating the same impediments.
Proverbs 22:6 is a promise for those who obey and a principal for those who don’t have access to this
training but later has an encounter with GOD that changes the trajectory of their lives. I’ll start with the
intent of this Scripture. To train as defined in the Greek as to discipline, to discern, to exercise, or to
acquire proficiency through rigorous practice. It is important to note that the word train initiates this
passage of Scripture giving a sign of importance or relevance to the entire Scripture. The relevance, I
believe is the significance of instilling in a child a discipline or practice of seeking GOD so that their path
would lead to wisdom and life instead of folly and death. The previous verse declares, “Thorns and snares
are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them” (Proverbs 22:5). Similarly,
Proverbs 11:5 says, “The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by
his own wickedness.” Consider also Proverbs 14:2, which reads, “Whoever walks in uprightness fears the
Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.” And again, Proverbs 16:17 says, “The highway of
the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.”
As noted throughout the Bible, there are two ways in which a person can go, we can either go the ways of
the world and follow foolish things or we could follow CHRIST, in terms of life and life more abundantly.
We all have choices. Likewise, we are all given direction well before we are capable of making sound
decisions. The type of direction and/or training that we are exposed to and/or absent from can dictate our
paths of life. I believe the writer of this passage wanted to illuminate the difference between the two paths
in which we could take and the importance of training our children in the right way to go.
Some impediments to training our children in the way of the LORD will always be temptations of the
world. But I’d like to discuss the results of not training a child. First, whenever a child is left to his/her own
devices, they lack direction and reason to make sound decisions. Consequently, they are left in a
vulnerable position because they do not right from wrong. They are left to their own discovery, which left
unmet, will follow the direction of the world or examples that seem more socially acceptable. Children are
always seeking direction, and without they follow what appears right in their natural eyes even if it is
spiritually wrong. It has been my observation that when a child is raised in an environment that lacks
discipline and/or loving guidance, that child grows up to be an adult with a wayward heart, unyielded to
any sound instructions. It is harder to reach an adult who has been left to make his/her own decisions
without the consultation of a parent, guardian or person of authority in their lives.
Lastly, the consequence statement in Proverbs 22:6 implies that the parents’ intentional moral and
religious shaping early on will have a permanent effect on their child for good. This statement is not a
hard-and-fast promise to parents, however, for the rest of the book makes clear that the power of the
youth’s future depends not only on the parents’ guidance but also very much on the choices he or she
makes.
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