“My son, hear the instructions of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.” Proverbs 1:8

As human beings, we are always learning. In fact, life itself is a school. From the earliest times the faithful in Israel had given much care to the education of the youth. The Lord had directed that even from babyhood the children should be taught of his goodness and his greatness, especially as revealed in his law, and shown in the history of Israel. Fathers and mothers were to instruct their children that the law of God is an expression of his character, and that as they received the principles of the law into the heart, the image of God was traced on mind and soul.

Home is where you minister to family members about the love and promises of God. It is where Jesus is introduced to children as their Lord, Savior and friend and where the Bible is upheld as the word of God. Family is where you model what a healthy relationship with our heavenly father looks like.

In Genesis 4:1-4, we have both Cain and Abel bringing their offerings to the Lord. We surely can assume that they learned about the meaning and importance of the offerings as part of their family education regarding the plan of salvation.

The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue schools. His mother was his first human teacher. From her lips and from the scrolls of the prophets, he learned of heavenly things. The very words which he himself had spoken to Moses for Israel he was now taught at his mother's knee.

No doubt Mary and Joseph were good and faithful teachers to the child, but as the story in Luke 2:41-50 reveals, there was much about their son that they did not understand, because Jesus had knowledge and wisdom that had been imparted to him only by the Lord.

As parents, it is part and parcel of our responsibility to instill godly attitudes to our children and progressively sharpen their sensitivity to God’s words, expectations and instructions. We cannot relieve our conscience by thinking that we have delegated these responsibilities to school teachers or church tutors. While they too have some contributions in that process, the accountability ultimately sits with parents with whom children happen to spend most of their time. Therefore, besides and beyond teaching them, it is absolutely critical for parents to walk the talk. That way, we would decisively lead our children to responsible and God-fearing adulthood.