Judging Other Parents is Risky at Best

We must be careful not to judge parenting based on how adult children choose to live their lives.

Adam and Eve had the perfect parents and they were the first to disobey and defy God their Father. God gave them everything they needed for an eternity, but it wasn't enough to cause them to obey.

There is no guarantee in the Word that children will follow their parents, in fact, the evidence shows us the opposite is often true.

We read in the Bible about Israel, did what is right in God's eyes and the next generation did not honor God.

In my experience, culture has a very great pull on children even if they are homeschooled.

The verse "raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it", has been misunderstood by many people. They tend to take it as a promise that they will just do the right thing and the children will follow. Sadly they change their mind when their children do not go the way they had hoped in their adult years.

The verse that says "raise of a child and he will not depart from it", is a general principle that children will not forget how they were raised, some will follow and others will not.

Brent Rhinehart said this:

Another view of Proverbs 22:6 is that the writer was saying the exact opposite. It’s not a guarantee for parents, but rather a warning. Dr. Douglas Stuart from Gordon Theological Seminary holds this view citing many notable scholars. According to Stuart, the difference comes from the addition of the word “should” in the English translations, something that’s not supported in the original Hebrew. Without the “should” the nature of the verse changes. It’s more about allowing your children to go their own way, not the way they “should” go. In this view, the reading would be more like “Train up a child in his own way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” That certainly changes things, doesn’t it?

What do you think, does the evidence show that parents raise their children and when they are old they will choose their own way and the parents are to let them go?"

I want to do a little more study on this matter because I see Christians, usually with small children who are still under their parent's control, judging other parents whose children have grown and not chosen to obey God.

I am interested in your thoughts supported by Scripture on this matter. Since so many things we have been taught have been wrong in all the translations, is it possible we are attempting to read the Bible with a western mindset according to western thought patterns and cultures?

We need the Holy Spirit to help us on this since we cannot read Hebrew or Greek!