Saturday, April 25, 2020 -
This past week, I was listening to a sermon series on the radio from Chuck Swindoll on Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
The keyword here he pointed out, is the word “way.” However, this is referring to a child’s way, not our way that we think he or she should go. The good in the child should be encouraged, and the bad broken. Their selfish desires, or self-will, must be broken. But what interests them should be built up and encouraged, including their talents.
It is in this regard that the generational curses can be broken. An example was used from Genesis. In the twelfth chapter, verse 13, we see that Abram feared his wife Sarai might be snatched from him and he might be killed because of his wife’s beauty. And so, he coaxed Sarai to lie and say she was Abram’s sister, in other words, not his wife!
Then, sometime later, we find Abraham and Sarah in a similar situation when they tell the same lie to King Abimelech (Genesis 20:2). Abraham justifies his lie because Sarah is actually his half-sister (Genesis 20:12).
This pattern of deception is carried on by Isaac, who outright lied to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, telling that very same lie, that his wife, Rebekah, is his sister! He learned this tendency from his father! We then see this lying nature passed on to Jacob, Isaac’s son when he stole his brother, Esau’s birthright. And Jacob’s sons lied to him about Joseph’s fate.
Yet with a concerted effort, and through God’s help through the power of the Holy Spirit, these generational patterns of sin can be broken in our children.
And, at the same time, we must take every talent, natural ability, inquisitive interest, and other good things and cultivate that for good and godly purposes. That should be our main role as parents of young children. Plus, we who are grandparents also often have opportunities to cultivate good and godly traits, as well!