A new year, a clean slate. A chance to put aside the parenting mistakes made in 2013 and start fresh.

Now we have a new opportunity to parent according to Proverbs 22:6 (ESV), “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

But does this verse mean what we think it does? 

The NIV translation says it this way: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

“Train up a child,” “start children off” – what does that really mean?

Most of us read this verse as a call to teach young children the right way to live, with the result that they will follow that way for the rest of their lives. We teach them God’s Word, how to live moral lives, even how to apply their educations so they will be successful in their careers.

But the English translations don’t quite capture the essence of the original Hebrew language. “Train up” is the English translation of the Hebrew verb chanak. But chanak is translated as train only in this verse. Elsewhere in the Old Testament it’s translated as dedicate.

While train is certainly accurate, what would happen if we substituted the word dedicate in our application of this verse? “Dedicate a child in the way he should go…” takes on a deeper meaning. It’s not just about giving children information. It’s about instilling in them a sense of lifelong commitment to the Lord. A profession of faith in Christ is just the beginning. As we teach them His Word, helping them to hide it in their hearts, we strengthen their understanding of their identity in Him.

Train up children? Yes. But don’t stop there. Dedicate them in the way they should go…and even in their old age they will remember who they are in Christ.

Ava Pennington
www.AvaWrites.com