Consider The Child

Consider the Child

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6

Parents are fond of quoting Proverbs 22:6 to encourage mothers or dads concerned about a wayward teen by reminding them the story isn’t over. That verse is encouraging, indeed. But some Bible scholars interpret the first part of the verse as “Train a child in his way.” That is, take an individual child’s personality into account when applying instruction and discipline. After a phone call some time ago, I decided I rather like that presentation.

During a chat with Dave, a buyer for a major circus based in Florida, our conversation turned to my favorite animal, the elephant. Soon, Dave remarked even the best trainer can’t make a multi-ton elephant do anything and explained how an animal’s performance is the result of mutual respect. The trainers study the animals before they begin training them, watching for those things the creature enjoys doing.

Thus, if an elephant likes rolling things with its trunk, it will be the one chosen to roll the gigantic ball around the ring. If a young lion rolls over a lot, the trainer will have it do that on command in the act. If a horse doesn’t flinch when it’s near the tiger cage, it will be trained to carry the tiger on his back.

I was fascinated with that insight. What if we applied this concept to our children? What if we knew our offspring so well that instead of demanding they do things our way, we allowed them to function in their own natural areas of giftedness? —SANDRA

Lord, help me to trust the instincts you have given me when it comes to the children within my influence. Help me to know and understand their potential and their limitations.

Do not try to produce an ideal child; it would find no fitness in this world.

—HERBERT SPENSER (1820–1903), ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER