The heart of the child is the most valuable commodity entrusted to its parents.  But the possession of it is potential, and whoever writes first on these blank and impressive slates will win the race to control their hearts for good or for worse.

 No honest person can deny the desperate need for careful and godly instruction of children today.  It is not right to blame the prevailing spiritual coldness, the government, the education system, or the society for the state into which our children are growing these days.  One has only got to look into his Bible to realize that its instructions for child rearing are not being followed today in sufficient number of families.  In fact when these instructions are read to a group of Christian parents, most of them are just shocked.  They say that they never thought this is the way in which children are to be brought up in a Christian family !

More and more of educators, law-enforcement authorities, and social thinkers are voicing their concern about the breakdown in family oriented instruction of the children.  One is not surprised to find many of them voicing opinions very similar to what the Bible says ! That is because only one way of child rearing will ultimately work -- the divine one which God ordained when he made the provision of children in families.

The family unit is the first and the greatest school for the child.  If the instructors fail here, then even the best university or public school will not be able to compensate for it.  It is here that the child should get his first lesson in honesty, integrity, poise, and diligence.  It is the parents who should introduce God's love to the child.

No delay of any type should be allowed in introducing the child to the Word of God.  It is foolish, fatal, and suicidal to wait till the child is grown up for so that he may then be instructed in the ways of God.  Two reasons are obvious for this.  First of all, there is no age at which the child cannot learn of 

the love of God.  He may not be able to comprehend these matters at the level that adults do, but if he is able to understand the love and affection of parents then he is fully ready to understand the love of God at his level. 

Second, the mind of the child does not remain blank till the time that you find him grown enough to give scriptural instruction.  The world, flesh, and the devil are constantly brainwashing him from the first day that he was born.  This is why even many children are able to control the activities of their parents right from their cradle.  (This is not to minimize the sweetness of little children, but this sweetness and human innocence should not deceive anyone into overlooking the sin-nature with which they are born). 

As the child grows, and as it starts learning words, it starts getting the first verbal doses of selfishness, greed, envy, anger, and similar attitudes. Worse still is the worldly viewpoints which they learn through the subtle hints which they get from the society.  This source might be as ordinary as the nonliving TV in the house, but it is so powerful that even before the child is five years old it will plant a staggering amount of unchristian ideas in the child's mind. And children who are exposed to the continuous onslaught of such powerful media for the first ten years of their life can be considered as already hardened against all the ideals of the Christian faith.  This might be too shocking to many parents, but they cannot ignore or falsify the statistics supporting these shocking statements !

It is easier to win the children for Christ if the necessary concepts like heaven, hell, salvation, etc. are taught to them as early as possible.  As far as the opposite concepts are concerned, they are learning them anyway without your aid.  The society will do that and unless you prepare them to receive the scriptural truths, they are getting ready to reject these truths when they reach a more advanced age.

It is parents who should preferably introduce Christ as personal saviour to their children.  But it is shocking that even those parents who sacrifice everything to them the best of worldly things shy away from providing them  things of eternal value !! Further, think of what you are doing to them by not sharing the gospel of salvation: each and every day the devil is influencing this child of yours against the gospel message ! Hence, not only are you failing in fulfilling your divine duty but you are also making it difficult for the child to come to the Lord.  Each day he is hardening more against he gospel.

Children are the greatest responsibility of the parents.  What shall it profit it a man and his wife if they gain the whole world but loose their children in this process !!