"Train Up A Child In The Way He Should Go"

The influence of home

(Timothy Shay Arthur, "The Home Mission" 1853)

"Train up a child in the way he should 
go; and when he is old he will not 
depart from it!"  Proverbs 22:6

If it were possible to trace back to their 

beginnings, in each individual, those 

good or evil impulses which have 

become ruling affections--

in most cases the origin 

would not be found until we 

had reached the home of childhood. 

Here it is that impressions are made, 

which become as enduring as existence 

itself. But the influence of home is not
beneficial or baneful in early years alone.
Wherever a home exists, there will be
found the nursery of all that is excellent
in social or civil life--
or of all that is deformed.

Every man and woman we meet in society,
exhibit, in unmistakable characters--
the quality of their homes.
The wife, the husband, the children--
bear with them daily a portion
of the spirit pervading the little
 circle from which they have
come forth. If the sun shines there--
a light will be on their countenances;
but shadows--
if clouds are in the sky of home.

If there is disorder, defect of principle,
discord among the members, neglect
of duty, and absence of kind attentions--
then the sphere of those who constitute
that home, can hardly be beneficial.

They will add little to the common stock 
of good in the social life around them.
We need not say how different will be
 the influence of those whose home-
circle is pervaded by higher, purer,
and truer principles.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; 
and when he is old he will not depart 
from it!" Proverbs 22:6 

    ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

We have published Timothy Shay Arthur's "The Prodigal Son!" 
This insightful 10 page story traces the downward spiral of a wayward son.