Beautiful Baby.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

“You must have been a beautiful baby, ‘Cause baby won’t you look at you now” are lyrics from a popular standard written by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer and performed by many artists including Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and others. The song postulates the woman must have been a beautiful child because of how beautiful she is as an adult. As Christians, we must understand the importance good instruction from the beginning plays in the development of mature Christians.

As a manager I assure you that many times the employee problems I deal with spring from issues the employee has carried throughout his or her life. Issues with tardiness, attention to detail, truthfulness, laziness, anger and many other traits that lead to censure or termination, started way before they accepted my offer of employment and they began working at my firm. Proverbs instructs parents to train a child so that they develop good and godly habits which they will surely continue as they grow older. Christian parents would do well to resist the urge to provide their children with too many material things and instead teach them traits that will last them a lifetime and help them be adults of great character. I can’t remember many of the things I surely must have asked for from my father; but I can remember virtually every life lesson he taught that pertain to character and moral values.

My prayer for you today is for the wisdom and patience to teach your children life’s most valuable lessons.

Deacon Larry Woodard