The duties of parents

By: American Decency Staff

As so many of us are focused on societal/cultural battles, we must ever keep our prayers, too, and our attentions upon the souls and the minds of our children and grandchildren. I have been reading a most powerful little booklet entitled “The Duties of Parentsâ€Â by J.C. Ryle. One book (it’s actually a booklet) reviewer wrote the following brief blurb that I found to match my perspective upon it: The best brief summary we know of describing the goals of parents which God holds them to account for. This booklet provokes much further thought than its few pages contain and will help any family re-assess their goals according to Scripture. This tiny booklet on Christian parenting may well be one of the most challenging and insightful tools you ever read, to train yourselves for the biblical responsibility of child rearing. http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/product/the-duties-of-parents The booklet is 34 pages long and expounds upon seventeen various succinct but powerful points.  Here are a few of the point headings: I. First, then, if you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way they would. III. Train your children with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends upon you. IV. Train with this thought continually before your eyes – that the soul of your child is the first thing to be considered. V. Train your child to a knowledge of the Bible. VIII. Train them to a habit of faith. IX. Train them to a habit of obedience. XIV. Train them remembering continually the influence of your own example. And from point XV, I want to give you a taste of Ryle’s truth telling, practical counsel. From “Train them remembering continually the power of sin.â€Â I name this shortly, in order to guard you against unscriptural expectations. You must not expect to find your children’s minds a sheet of pure white paper, and to have no trouble if you only use the right means.  I warn you plainly you will find no such thing.  It is painful to see how much corruption and evil there is in a young child’s heart, and how soon it begins to bear fruit.  Violent tempers, self-will, pride, envy, sullenness, passion, idleness, selfishness, deceit, cunning, falsehood, hypocrisy, a terrible aptness to learn what is bad, a painful slowness to learn what is good, a readiness to pretend anything in order to gain their own ends – all these things, or some of them, you much be prepared to see, even in your own flesh and blood.  In little ways they will creep out at a very early age; it is almost startling to observe how naturally they seem to spring up.  Children require no schooling to learn sin. But you must not be discouraged and cast down by what you see.  You must not think it a strange and unusual thing, that little hearts can be so full of sin.  It is the only portion which our father Adam left us;  it is that fallen nature with which we come into the world; it is that inheritance which belongs to us all. Let it rather make you more diligent in using every means which seem most likely, by God’s blessing, to counteract the mischief.  Let it make you more and more careful, so far as in you lies, to keep your children out of the way of temptation. .. Remember the natural depravity of your children, and take care. [Taken from The Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle] In closing, I expect that I will have some unsubscribes over this quote as Ryle is very direct in describing what sin often looks like not only in our children but in ourselves at points along the way.   His thoughts are not politically correct but truly are based upon the Word of God.  I’m weary of politically correct.  I want nothing to do with it. We all fall short of the glory of God. That’s what the Bible says.  We need a Savior.  As we parent and grandparent, we need to be reminded of the reality of our duties. What a joy but what a responsibility to have children under our tutelage.  May God inflame our hearts to lay down our lives for them.  This booklet is a quick read but one worth meditating upon and praying over as we take our charge of leading our loved ones to live for our Lord and Savior. In a day when so many are putting undo time into sports, computers, iphones, games, entertainment, etc.,  may we allow God to call us back to Him and to the duties we have to parent our children – that God would be glorified and our children would know Him and serve Him all the days of their lives. ========================================================== Register for our summer event featuring Gary Bauer, Friday, July 29, at 7:00 pm https://secure4.afo.net/ada/registration.php?eventno=28 ========================================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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