The Duties of Parents (2010, first published 1888) by J. C. Ryle, Book Review

 The Duties of Parents (2010, first published 1888) by J. C. Ryle

My parents are good but not saints; as far as I can remember, they never taught me about Christ and the Word directly but I remember they (especially mom) taught me to pray before a meal and went to bed; I believe they want the best for me but in our culture, best mean mediocrity. I don't blame them, they just follow the examples from their own parents, grandparents, and so on. I never regret having them as my parents (although, I once imagined that I'm the prince of the King of England!) but I decide, by God's grace, to make a difference for my future children. You should too. Change must start with us. Bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), of which his seven volumes of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels I owned, open this short book with the famous verse from Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go - and when he is old, he will not depart from it." If the crisis of ungodliness among young people during Ryle's time was alarming as he mentions in the book, then, surely today has become worse. In my observation, the responsibility to "train up a child" that is supposed to begin at home has ended up mostly left to the school, the church (if any), and even social media. This is not supposed to be so for Proverb 22:6 assumes that it is the responsibility of the parents or the close guardian(s) of "a child" to give godly instructions and to train him or her to walk with God. Ryle explains: "The plain truth is, the Lord's commandment in our text is not regarded - and therefore the Lord's promise in our text is not fulfilled." Don't make excuses, just obey the Word of God and you will be blessed. Here are Ryle's seventeen (17) insights of biblical responsibility of child-rearing that he outlines in this book:

1. If you train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way they would
2. Train Up your child with all tenderness, affection, and patience
3. Train your children with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends upon you
4. Train with this thought continually before your eyes – that the soul of your child is the first thing to be considered
5. Train your child to a knowledge of the Bible
6. Train them to a habit of prayer
7. Train them to habits of diligence, and regularity about public means of grace
8. Train them to a habit of faith
9. Train them to a habit of obedience
10. Train them to a habit of always speaking the truth
11. Train them to a habit of always redeeming the time
12. Train them with a constant fear of overindulgence
13. Train them remembering continually how God trains His children
14. Train them remembering continually the influence of your own example
15. Train them remembering continually the power of sin
16. Train them remembering continually the promises of Scripture
17. Train them, lastly, with continual prayer for a blessing on all you do

#ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #JCRyle #GodlyParentsGodlyChildren #NoExcuseJustObey #LeadersAreReaders #GrowingLeaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

FB Page: https://facebook.com/LEGASI.tv/            

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/LEGASI.tv/            

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LEGASItv/

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.