How far has your spiritual education advanced? Can you know if you are growing spiritually? And what about your children?

Matthew 7:20 states, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Verse 17 says, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”

This means that we have a means of reviewing our spiritual education. Our path of growth and maturity is proven by the end result of our education. This education is all about the God Family. One vital area is educating our children for the God Family. What fruits are we producing in this area? How are we preparing our children for their spiritual education?

Notice a definite direction from God is this area: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Just what does this mean to each of us? To bring up our children to fear and reverence God is the greatest responsibility we have been given as parents—and also as grandparents.

This reaches far beyond our immediate family. This reaches down to the development and education of future generations. God wants to perpetuate His truth forever. To bring that about, He has set in motion the family system.

To train up children in the way they should go has great depth. It means to install godly values, virtues, attitudes, habits, outlooks and insights, and to be involved in educating grandchildren and even their posterity.

God praised Abraham for his determination to teach the true values to his children and those after him. “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him” (Genesis 18:19).

You can bequeath to your children no greater knowledge than teaching them how to love and obey God. This means your personal spiritual education must be the example for them. God commanded the Prophet Joel to explain and warn of the dire prophetic events that were to befall Israel: “Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation” (Joel 1:3).

God has given His people the charge to hold inviolate His truth down through the ages by teaching the succeeding generations. We must be diligent in this as families, and that means 1) physical family and 2) Church family—all leading to the God Family. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 state, “And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Revised Standard Version).

Only through consistent teaching of our children are the everlasting truths of God engraved in their hearts and minds. We must all grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Sadly, we see in our society an attitude that cares little about the state of future generations. The greater emphasis is on “me.” The nation’s leaders, for the most part, have the attitude of Let future generations worry about solving the huge problems we are creating, such as America’s national debt.

“Train up a child” means preparing him or her to lead the nations in the World Tomorrow. When Christ returns, He will use our children as role models—if we do our part today. Christ will restore the generation-to-generation method of education and instruction to the family. This system of teaching will help mold the hearts and minds of people throughout the Millennium into a God-fearing, self-disciplined society of culture and achievement.

As parents in God’s true Church family today, we have a profound responsibility not only to back and support God’s Work, God’s apostle in prophesying again, but also to prepare a generation of God-fearing sons and daughters to physically assist Christ as human leaders in ushering in His coming Kingdom.

Are we growing spiritually in this area of responsibility as parents? Does our spiritual education continue to advance as we pass this education on to our children? We are all God’s children, no matter what age—God is training parents and grandparents continually. He is building this generation-to-generation system of teaching—all building toward the God Family for eternity. Let’s remember to “train up a child” as our Father trains each of us! Think on this for generation to generation.