Verse from Proverbs

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

While this isn’t a promise but more a wise principle, and many children do wander from God for at least a season of life, she and my father had strived to raise us to humbly, reverently love God (v. 4)—primarily through example. Now, by His grace, they were able to see us grow older and benefit from a personal relationship with Him. As verse 2 says, God is “the Maker of . . . all.” And although some children will respond to loving instruction in Christ, others might take longer perhaps to hear His voice. For those precious children, we continue to pray and rest in God’s timing.

Reverently loving God yields spiritual riches for this life and beyond (v. 4). And while we can’t control what children will choose to do, we can rest in the hope that God will lovingly continue to work in their hearts.