“It is good for a
man to bear the
yoke in his youth”
Lamentations 3:27
CHILDHOOD
Biblical Guidance Through the
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Challenges of Childhood
Limited Choices
No One Understands You
Time Takes So Long to Pass
Age
Fraction
of Time
1 Day
1/24
1 Week
1/168
1 Year
1/8760
Sleep 2/3
One Hour
1/2920
30 Years
1/262,800
80 Years
1/700,800
Challenges of Childhood
Limited Choices
No One Understands You
Time Takes So Long to Pass
Everything Seems So Hard
“Child*”
New King
James Version
1842 Times!
* In various forms of the word
Biblical Guidance to Children
1
Seek Wisdom – Proverbs 4:1-11
“Hear, my children, the
instruction of a father, And give
attention to know understanding; For I give you
good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was
my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight
of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me:
‘Let your heart retain my words; Keep my
commands, and live…’”
Biblical Guidance to Children
1
Seek Wisdom – Proverbs 4:1-11
“‘…Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from
the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will
preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.Wisdom is
the principal thing;Therefore get wisdom.And in all your
getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote
you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her…’”
Biblical Guidance to Children
1
Seek Wisdom – Proverbs 4:1-11
“‘…She will place on your head an
ornament of grace;A crown of
glory she will deliver to you.” Hear, my son, and receive
my sayings,And the years of your life will be many. I have
taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right
paths.’”
“Elisha, son of Abuya, said, ‘If one
learns as a child, what is it like? Like
ink written on clean paper. If one
learns as an old man, what is it like?
Like ink written on blotted paper.’”
Jewish Mishnah
Perke Aboth, 4.25
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“Give me a child for the first
seven years and you may do
what you like with him
afterwards.”
Jesuit Motto
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“Give us the child for eight
years, and it will be a
Bolshevist forever.”
Nickolai Lenin
Speech to the Commissars
of Education in 1923
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“My law” (vs. 2).
Christian Parents, “Training and admonition
of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
• “My Law” = God’s Law.
• While “Tender and the only one in the sight of my
mother” (vs. 3).
• “He taught me” (vs. 4).
“Get wisdom!” (vs. 5).
• Not the “word of human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:4).
• Not wisdom that is “Earthly” and “sensual” (James 3:15,16).
• “Wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17,18).
• “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the
knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).
• “…To man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’” (Job 28:28).
“Wisdom is the principal
thing” (vs. 7).
• Wisdom will “preserve” and “keep” you (vs. 6).
• Wisdom will “promote” and “bring you honor” (vs. 8).
• Wisdom will give you an “ornament of grace” and
“a crown of glory” (vs. 9).
To the Christian, “A crown of life which the Lord has
promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12).
Biblical Guidance to Children
2
Remember Your Creator – Ecclesiastes 12:1
“Remember now your
Creator in the days of
your youth, Before the difficult days come,And
the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no
pleasure in them’”
“Remember Your
Creator” (vs. 1a).
• “In the days of your youth” (1b).
• Before “the difficult days come” (1c).
Parable of the Sower the thorns, “choked with cares,
riches, and pleasures of life ” and bring no “fruit to
maturity” (Luke 8:14).
What is Involved
in Remembering
Our Creator?
1. Recognize that we
are a creation
“For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s
womb. I will praise You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, And that
my soul knows very well…”
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“…My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret, And skillfully
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet
unformed. And in Your book they all
were written, The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.”
Psalm 139:13-16
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What is Involved
in Remembering
Our Creator?
1. Recognize that we
are a creation
2. Give God His
proper place in
our lives
Biblical Guidance to Children
3
Obey His Commandments – Proverbs 6:20-23
“My son, keep your father’s
command,And do not forsake
the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your
heart;Tie them around your neck.When you roam, they
will lead you;When you sleep, they will keep you;And
when you awake, they will speak with you. For the
commandment is a lamp,And the law a light; Reproofs of
instruction are the way of life.”
“Bind” His Commands
(vs.21)
Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18
• When we “roam” and when we
“sleep” (vs. 22a).
• His word “will speak with you” (vs. 22b).
• God’s commandment is a “lamp” and “light”...
• Which leads in the “way of life” (vs. 23).
“Childhood shews the man, as
morning shews the day”
Milton
Paradise Regained
Bk. iv, l.220,221
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Biblical Guidance to Children
4
Honor Father and Mother – Ephesians 6:1-3
“Children, obey your parents
in the Lord, for this is right.
‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the
first commandment with promise:‘that it may be
well with you and you may live long on the
earth.’”
“…We ought to obey God
rather than men.”
Acts 5:29
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“You shall rise before the gray
headed and honor the presence
of an old man, and fear your
God: I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:2
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Obedience to Parents
in the Bible
• Law of Moses, a rebellious and disobedient son
was stoned (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
• One who cursed father or mother put to death
(Leviticus 20:9).
• Jesus cites this (Matthew 15:4).
• Paul, cites “disobedient to parents” among
mankind’s sins (Romans 1:30).
Biblical Guidance to Children
5
KeepYourself Pure – Ecclesiates 11:9,10
“Rejoice, O young man, in your
youth,And let your heart cheer
you in the days of your youth;Walk in the ways of your
heart,And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all
these God will bring you into judgment.Therefore
remove sorrow from your heart,And put away evil from
your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.”
“Childhood and Youth”
• Are “vanity” (vs. 10c). Heb. “breath” or
“vapor” (Gesenius).
• Let our heart “cheer” us but remember we
will face judgment (vs. 9).
• “Remove sorrow from your heart” (vs. 10a).
• “Put away evil from your flesh” (vs. 10b).
“A child of whom her
playmates said: ‘It was
easier to be good when
she was with us!’”
Tombstone Epitaph
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“…Unless you are converted and
become as little children, you will
by no means enter the
kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3
“…Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14
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“Experience is the child of
Thought, and Thought the child
of Action”
Benjamin Disraeli
Vivian Grey, Bk. v, ch. 1
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