Train Up a Child

I have heard it said before… “My child is not a dog, I will not train him.” I have to say I disagree. If you don’t train your child, then how will they learn?

Training your child is biblical, and I strongly believe that training your child in every aspect is part of that verse. We used Babywise to sleep train my son, Adam and it was so very helpful. I loved learning to train him from a young age. The older I get the more I realize how important training is – especially for my son as an autistic child.

Now as my son is getting older, I feel it’s important to train him to  pray before meals and bedtime. To train him that Sundays and Wednesdays we go to church, and that picking up his toys is just as important as playing with them.

There will always be reasons to train my children, no matter how old they get. We will train them to have manners, and to treat others with respect. We will train them in the ways of God and the Bible, and we will train them to be good citizens.

Does this mean it will always be easy? Does it mean that my children will always be perfect? Of course not! Children will always be children and we are all human and make mistakes. But by training them and getting them ready to go out into the world on their own, we are preparing them for life and hopefully if we do it right, the Bible promises they will never depart from our trainings.

I love that the verse says to train a child in the “way he should go.” Every child is different and the way I train, will not necessarily be the way you train. Having an autistic child has really taught me that he will learn and train differently. I have to find what works for him and the best way I found to train him is through routine and schedule. It just works for him, he likes everything in its place and everything routine. That way he knows what is happening and what to expect.

As I raise this new little baby after it’s born in 7 months, I’m sure I will find that training him or her will be different than how we have trained Adam and that’s ok! I am just glad that God has given us this verse so that we can see how important training our children is.

What do you think? What does “Train Up a Child” mean to you? What are some areas you have trained your children in?