“My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck. My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them! They may say, “Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent! Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave; let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death. Think of the great things we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take. Come, throw in your lot with us; we’ll all share the loot.” My child, don’t go along with them! Stay far away from their paths. They rush to commit evil deeds. They hurry to commit murder. If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away. But these people set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed. Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life.”
Proverbs 1:8-19 NLT
The parents of the modern generation have been taught that to instruct your children is to commit violence against them. It is an unequivocal aggression against their psyches to do nothing but affirm their every inclination. Beyond this, children are taught to unshackle themselves from their parents. They are encouraged to be disrespectful and to betray their parents at the cost of their freedoms. They are taught that their parents are withholding power from them, to their detriment. Scripture teaches something tacitly different. It calls upon the child to heed direction and challenges them to lean into the understanding that their parents provide. Solomon notes the varying ways which children can be enticed and he warns his readers to not be fooled. If the wisdom of God is first born out of fear and respect for him, so must his advocates on earth have a modicum of this same fear and respect. Those who do not have reverence for their parents will not live a meaningful and fruitful life. They will toss aimlessly, relying upon their own strength alone for success. Perhaps they will survive, or even thrive in the tussle, but they shouldn’t have had to. A wise man learns from the advice of others. This starts in the home.
JOSH McGARY.COM 