Whatever the shaping influences of life, it is the child’s Godward orientation that determines his response to those shaping influences.
“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning” (Prov 9:7-9).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The fear of the Lord helps us see what finally determines whether a child responds as a mocker or a wise man. It is the fear of the Lord that makes one wise and it is that wisdom that determines how a child responds to correction.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them” (Rom 1:18).
All people have God’s clear revelation of truth, but wicked people suppress that truth. They refuse to acknowledge and submit to the things God has made plain. Paul goes on to say that although they know God they do not glorify him but become futile in their thinking and eventually worship idols. According to Romans 1, a child either responds to God by faith or they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For a child who responds to God by faith, they find fulfilment in knowing and serving the true and living God. If they suppress the truth in unrighteousness, they will ultimately worship and serve the creation rather than the creator. This is the sense in which the author uses the term Godward orientation.
A child may not be conscious of his religious commitment, but he is never neutral. Made in the image of God, a child is designed with a worship orientation even as a young child. He is either worshipping and serving God or idols.
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Even a child in the womb or just born of the womb is wayward and sinful. The bible teaches us that man sins because he is a sinner. A child is never morally neutral, not even if just put from the womb. One of the justifications for spanking children is that “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction drives it far from him (Proverbs 22:13). The focus in this proverb is that it is because something is wrong in the heart of the child that requires correction. The remedy to how a child behaves is not solely changing the structure of the home, it is addressing the heart” (Psalm 51:5).
It is the right responses of a child towards God that can mould and shape the character of a child. It is imperative and critical that we shepherd, first of all, the hearts of our children in the direction of knowing and serving God. Let the child know that he is a sinner by birth. A child needs to be born again with a new heart through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without which, a child will not have the ability to respond correctly to the instruction and correction that comes from us. Without Jesus Christ as his Saviour, without a new heart, a child will not be wise but a mocker towards instruction and correction. We must shepherd the hearts of children in the direction of knowing and serving God.