I’ve been a parent for 26 years, and I remember saying, have heard others recently say, “I wish my kids came with an instruction manual.” Looking back, that seems like a pretty faulty statement. The truth is, they do come with an instruction manual. But it takes diligent study to remember and apply the instructions.

The manual I speak of is the Bible. My reason for considering it a parenting manual stems from my faith. But I think it also bears a bit of logic.

The thing is, if God is the Creator of all that there is, which the Bible claims Him to be, then isn’t it possible that the same Bible making those claims about where we come from might have a bit of wisdom on what to do with the lives God created? And since God told men and women to procreate, doesn’t it also make sense that He would tell them how to train the children they made?

This point came home to me in reading Proverbs the other day. Proverbs 18:17 says, “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”

If you are raising more than one child, and those children get into a fight and you try to break up the fight, what happens? You listen to the complaint of the first child. It sounds reasonable, it fits with what you have observed to a limited degree, so your natural inclination is to react and discipline before hearing the second child’s response. But a wise parent will reserve judgment until both sides are heard and discipline accordingly.

That verse isn’t directly addressed to parents or to raising children, but it reminded me how often I’d been quick to respond instead of quick to listen when the boys were small. It was applicable to parenting as well as other situations. If I’d been more in tune with the whole of Scripture back then, I would have known such wisdom more readily.

There are myriad examples in the Bible where God either directly (through outright command) or indirectly (through the story of someone’s life) teaches us how to live and how to train our children to live. In Deuteronomy He tells the children of Israel to talk about His laws, His ways, His love, when they rise up, sit down, walk along the road – in other words, all the time. Impress His commands on your children. Why? Because how else will they know the truth? Parents are supposed to know the truth and pass it on to their children.

But we can’t simply take parts of the Bible and use them to suit our own ends. We need to study, to read all of it, to pray to understand, to wisely discern what is written. It does no good to take verses out of context and force them to mean something they don’t. The good comes when we fear the Lord and read the instruction manual He’s given us before, during, and after embarking on the challenge of parenting.

Of course, the Bible is more than a parenting manual. It is the living, breathing Word of God which points the way to life. It is truth, and it is worth the time it takes to get to know the God who inspired it. There is much to learn. If we are willing, the manual of His Word is waiting to teach us.