You Can't Educate by Accident
It is worth the work!
Don’t leave your child to the destruction of their own instruction.
Disney’s follow your heart foolishness shows some of the worst impact in choose your own adventure education.
Even parents who don’t let their children run their own lives can be tempted to abandon their children to education rather than invest in it.
Parents, let’s embrace the work of educating our children!
It will be work, hard work!
The Scripture calls us to lead our child out of naivety into knowledge, away from foolishness into wisdom, up from immaturity into maturity.
Don’t get hoodwinked by unbiblical assumptions that put children in charge of their education or treat education as a low priority or an inevitability.
While it is commendable to consider each child, to care for them personally, invest in growth beyond grades, avoid being harsh, and instruct them with wisdom, here are
7 biblical reasons you need to take education seriously, not haphazardly:
Depravity must be restrained:
"Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him." — Proverbs 13:24
(Loving discipline helps restrain a child’s natural depravity.)Naivety must be trained:
"The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge." — Proverbs 14:18
(Naive children need training to avoid folly and gain understanding.)Foolishness must be corrected:
"Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him." — Proverbs 22:15
(Foolishness needs correction and discipline.)Knowledge must be transmitted:
"Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." — Proverbs 19:20
(Parents must pass on knowledge through advice and instruction.)Wisdom must be instructed:
"The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." — Proverbs 4:7
(Parents should teach their children to seek wisdom above all.)Character must be molded:
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." — Proverbs 22:6
(Character formation starts early through intentional training.)Discipline must be challenging.
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."— Hebrews 12:11
(The work of training will be painful in the moment if it will be productive in the future.)
Education is a craft, not an accident. Discipline requires diligence.
There are many models of education– tutor, homeschool, private, public etc.
There are virtues in the various models and vices that threaten each.
Every model of education takes work and requires a commitment to excellence.
Parents, we are called to wisely choose our model and to work hard to make it excellent for the good of our children and the glory of God!
To the teachers kicking off another year, the mothers embracing the routine of homeschooling once again, the families adapting to the commute– You’re embracing hard work that is well worth it!