WORD FOR THE DAY PROVERBS 22:6 (KJV)

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

COMMENTARY: Train up a child refers to the total process of molding a child's life. The word train comes from the root word meaning to "put into the mouth " and implies the idea of conditioning the palate. Thus, parental training should help children develop a taste for the things of God. The biblical pattern of effective parental training emphasizes a balance of instruction and discipline (cf. Eph. 6:1-4). The ideal parent is to be neither overly authoritarian nor overly permissive. Rather, he must balance love and discipline so as not to "provoke" his child to rebellion. When he is old means simply, "when he is grown up," or a mature adult. It does not refer to his elderly years. The verse stresses the simple principle that education in the home forms the man throughout his lifetime.