What does Proverbs 22:6 mean?
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
So here’s the text we are going to study. In this post, I am going to break this verse down into bite-size pieces. Hopefully making it easier to digest and therefore relatable. This was one of the first verses God impressed upon my heart when he called me to homeschool my daughter. Homeschooling is basically discipling. Children are very impressionable, easy to influence for good or for bad. Children look up to their teachers. I recall a time when my stepson was in high school. He was taking Biology and very fascinated with the subject. I purchased Evolution Exposed by Roger Patterson and offered it to him, but he was not interested. This book exposed what was being taught in Biology classrooms. Did you know that Biology is the study of life? Evolution is taught as truth, not theory. Falsehood brings death.
Train
Train up a child in the way he should go
So now we have our clue to the first part of this verse- train, as in the preparing of a soldier for war. War? Yes, war! We live in a society that is full of well-meaning people with ideas that are less than favorable to our children. At the beginning of a child’s life, much of what they learn is, in the confines of their parents watchful eyes. Then it happens, they turn five and we say Johnny go make us proud. No wonder some children go to Kindergarten kicking and screaming. They are not used to venturing on their own. They are not aware of the dangers that lurk in the shadows. We tell them don’t take rides from strangers, yet we place them on a bus driven by a stranger and full of strangers.
Some would say homeschooling is sheltering your child. Then shelter away, I say. We wouldn’t send a soldier off to war untrained, yet we send five-year-olds into a world that they have no clue how to walk in! It takes someone with experience to teach them the difference between a friend and a predator.
Of Age
and when he is old…
Once they have had the proper training and have come of age, they are ready to go out into the world better equipped to handle it. Instead of it handling them. Yes, there are adults in the public school, but your child is mainly around their peers. What is a five-year-old going to teach another five-year-old? It’s the case of the blind leading the blind.
Not Depart
He will not depart from it.
The last part. What does Proverbs 22:6 mean? If you have done your job well, all those nuggets of wisdom, insight, and experience that you placed in them like seeds will flourish way into their later adulthood. Don’t get me wrong homeschooled or not, you can still train your child. But homeschooling is the better option. You can be the main influencer in their life. You can teach them what you want them to know and shape them into the soldiers you want them to be, ready, equipped for the big world!
Resources for what does proverbs 22:6 mean?
My fictional book A Case of Mistaken Identity is all about Proverbs 22:6, available only on Amazon.
If you have Kindle Unlimited for a limited time you can read it free.
Recommended Reading