Myth: Some Parents Just Can't Teach

That charge is often leveled at parents by "experts" who claim that parents either lack qualifications or ability. In view of God's command that parents teach their children, I ask. What kind of a charge is that? Surely, it flies in the face of God!

I really don't know if Moses was qualified to lead Is­rael out of Egypt or not. I don't know if he was qualified to teach them the law. I do know that he was told to do it rather than being asked to do it. Furthermore, when he argued with God about his qualifications the Lord answered "...I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shall say" (Ex. 4:12). Parents are like­wise "told" to teach their children, "And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children..." (Deut. 6:7). God will likewise be with them as He was with Moses.

Much like any other task, large or small, teaching children depends more upon willingness and upon obe­dience to the command of God than upon measurable ability. God gives parents the desire and he has also promised to give them the ability. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleas­ure" (Philippians 2:3). Somewhere, then, there is within the heart of parents a place where God created an abil­ity to teach children. It will, if nurtured, bud and bloom into a fragrant blossom leading to a very rewarding and fulfilling experience. As well as experiencing it our­selves, Virginia and I have seen it happen to others.

Probably the most forgotten ability in all the hassle over the education of children is the ability' of the child to work out his own education. The major factor in any child's education is the child's ability to. ask, seek, and knock, which, by the way, is an underlying principle in anything in life. including salvation. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Man. 7:7).

Children who succeed in getting an education de­serve far more credit than any of their teachers. The thirst for knowledge and the hunger to lay hold upon it is absolutely essential to success in education. Without that natural thirst and hunger education cannot be ac­complished regardless of who teaches; with it, educa­tion can be accomplished, often in spite of who teaches.

To Myths Menu