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HELEN SANDERS
12-19-2025
TRAINING UP A CHILD
We do not come into this world with faith. It is something that is developed. Faith is what overcomes fear. You can take an infant and if it thinks it is going to fall, it will flinch and react with fear. It cries when it is hungry because it has not learned to trust its mother for food. Faith must be developed. So how is faith developed? The word of God tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God [Romans 10:17].
What we hear as an infant, a child, a teenager, or an adult will all affect our faith. If we are taught things that oppose the word of God, then we have faith in the wrong thing. It is so important that we teach children, even very young children about God and how he loves them.
We could look at Daniel in the bible as an example. He was taken into captivity as a teenager, but had very strong faith. Where did he learn this faith? He did not learn it from his captors. He was taught as a young child. He learned the scriptures and his life was formed through learning the first five books of the bible, the law, and the Jewish feasts and traditions. His journey as a faithful prophet of God did not start in his captivity in Babylon. He was prepared when he was a youngster, and he never lost sight of who he was.
We must teach children the word of God to build their faith so they, like Daniel, will have a sure foundation. As a whole, the church has substituted good bible teaching for entertainment in Sunday School and Youth programs.
It takes parents, the church, and God to mold a child on their journey of life. We must accept this responsibility, and train and disciple them in our home. We should not take for granted that a child is learning about God in Sunday School. Visit their Sunday School. Sit in on a session and see what is being taught. If they are not being taught from the Word of God, then you must make a decision to find a church that will teach them.
A good rule in raising children is this old saying. “It is not what you expect, it is what you inspect.” Be involved in every area of your child’s life. You are the one to guide them; do not give that precious responsibility to anyone else.
I remember telling a young mother that she should have her children in church and Sunday school. She said to me, “I came back, so will they.” I told her, “Yes, you came back, but you had something to come back to. Your children don’t because they have not been in church or Sunday School.” Remember, Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” If you train a child in the ways of God, they may stray, but they will come back. God cannot lie.
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