All In The Family – Kids Will Be. . . Series

• Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

INTRODUCTION:

The top ten things teenagers hate to hear their parents say:

10. Pull your pants up. (What good will that do? They will just fall down again.)

9. When I was your age we did things differently. (Unfortunately, your kids still aren’t convinced you ever were their age.)

8. Who is going with you and what will you be doing? (This only shows you were not listening when they asked to go to a movie with their friends. You know who their friends are don’t you?)

7. When I was your age we didn’t have computers or cell phones and we got along just fine with out ‘em. (That only proves to your kids that you are old; whatever you do don’t tell them you only had four channels on the TV and one of them was fuzzy all the time.)

6. Someday you will look back at this and remember me laughing. (That’ may be worse than “I told you so.”)

5. Clean your room. (It has taken a lifetime for them to get it just the way they like it and now you want them to mess it up?)

4. Why? Because I said so that’s why! (What kind of a reason is that?)

3. It’s past your bedtime, so go to bed. (Teenagers believe that sleep is overrated.)

2. It’s past noon get out of that bed now! (Sleep is only overrated when it is dark outside.)

1. You’ll understand someday when you have a child just like you are. (And all along they’ve heard parents say how much their kids are just like they are.)

Some words of wisdom for parents (and children):

• Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth. – Erma Bombeck

• The most common fallacy among women (and men – in my humble opinion) is that simply having children makes them a mother (a father), which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes you a musician. – Sydney J. Harris

• We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents. – Henry Ward Beecher

Well enough of that; its time now for ALL IN THE FAMILY—this morning we are going to look at “Kids will be. . .” The old saying goes, “Kids will be kids,” but what will kids be when they are grown up? Will our kids still be kids, or will our kids have learned not just to be adults, but will they have learned to know God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Yes, kids will be kids, but more importantly KIDS WILL BE WHAT WE TRAIN THEM TO BE. So on this Father’s day we are going to look at our role in bringing up Godly children.

One father was talking about his three sons. He said, “I remember the day the little fellow came into my life. It seems like yesterday, I held his little head in my hands as his little body seemed to curl and cuddle into mine. As I looked into his little brown eyes I knew he was mine. Then it hit me – the responsibility of caring for such a little guy was a bit scary. How would I care and provide for him? What would I teach him? Could I train him? Would he respond? His needs and the responsibility to meet those needs was enough to overwhelm the best. But I worked hard and succeeded. That German shepherd was the best trained dog I ever owned!” He went on to say, “I have discovered, now that . . . there is a big difference in training boys and dogs. Choke chains and leaders do not work with little boys.”

Although think with a sixteen year old son and another who is almost a teenager (not to mention my three daughters) I might want to reconsider a choker chain with a good strong leash, that might help keep them in line. Who knows they might even think the choker chain is fashionable!

• Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

• (NLT) Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.

• (MsgB) Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost.

• (Good News) Teach a child how he should live, and he will remember it all his life.

What can we learn from the Wisdom of Solomon to help our kids? Regardless of who we are we can all learn something today. The word “CHILD” in the Hebrew does not refer to a son or a daughter but is anyone from the age of infancy to adolescence. The word can also apply to a young servant who shares no family relationship with their master. Therefore, those of you who are not parents what is said about training a child in the way he/she will go applies to you as well. You can determine to be an influence for righteousness and train children in the way of the Lord—that child may be a niece, a nephew, a granddaughter, a grandson, or even the kid who lives down the street from you. God can use any of us to touch the lives of any number of children if we are just willing to make an investment into their lives.