Training Verses Teaching

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

Training is more than teaching. We teach by a lesson "you should share. It is good to share." We give examples; we tell a story; we inspire...and we hope.
But teaching is not training. To train a sapling to grow in the right way, we tie it to a stake and sometimes add other supports. Then we keep it pruned. This we do to train it to grow straight up. We have to tie it or force it, so to speak, in the beginning.
It is the same with children. If we want to train them to share, we must begin by making them share. Hold them to it. We begin by tying them to the rule, until it becomes natural for them. Later, after they have grown stronger, we can untie and enjoy the beauty and grace of their training.
Form good habits and they will work for them later. A habit of prayer and Bible reading, may just be a form for them right now. It won't save them, but when they do give their hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ of their own free will, it will work for them to help keep them close to God.
If we let them grow wild,they may be beautiful in a sense to look at, as a wild over grown fruit tree, but a well trained tree produces more and better fruit; and that is what the Lord wants...fruit.
taken from a my journal on 2/23/04