Recently, some beloved younger brethren shared memories of how their parents have sought to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition [discipline] of the Lord.” We trust that the following samples will be an encouragement to dear parents who are currently seeking God’s grace to raise their beloved children for His glory and their blessing.
“One thing that I have been raised with since day one is a daily family Bible reading. Every night we sit down as a family and read out loud. Then my dad talks about it.”
“I think the two things that my parents did for me that have helped more than anything else were (1) they impressed on me that when I made a decision, I had to make it before the Lord that if I sinned, it was first of all against Him, and (2) whenever they exercised discipline we always ended on our knees and stayed there till I confessed what I had done to the Lord. I think that was far harder than gritting my teeth for a few seconds while the rod fell.”
“I remember as far back as I can, sitting on my mother’s knee [while she read from the Bible].”
“Learning to pray in the good times and the bad. My mother would kneel with me nightly, ever since I was able to talk, and pray with me, while I was on my knees beside my bed.”
“Another thing my parents did was not to seethe the kid in his mother’s milk (Ex. 23:1919The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. (Exodus 23:19)). Dad was not into long Bible readings that made us restless. But he didn’t just read a couple verses and dismiss us. He’d try to explain things to us. I remember the day he bought me my first full-sized Bible. I took it into my bedroom, sat on my bed and read until I fell asleep. I didn’t understand most of what I read, but I wanted to do it because of my dad’s good example of spending lots of time reading his Bible.”
“Though my parents were very faithful in discipline, I can clearly remember a strong feeling of love whenever my father or mother spanked me, especially with my father. Afterward, I can remember turning around and giving my dad a big hug with the tears running down my face. Every time I think about this, it brings tears to my eyes. I never ever felt that my dad was angry or frustrated with me. I just knew and had it reinforced each time he punished me how much he loved me.”
Ed.