It is sad to observe the children of faithful parents turn aside from the Lord. We see it throughout the Scriptures. Adam and Eve raise a son named Cain; one of Abraham’s sons is Ishmael; Manasseh follows his father, Hezekiah, on the throne of Judah.

Of course, all these faithful men had flaws, and there is no doubt that their own sin was part of the reason for the disobedience of their sons. But we must be careful in assessing this. Remember that Jesus had a disciple who was possessed by Satan despite His faithful instruction and perfect example of holiness and love. This was certainly no failure on our Lord’s part.

These are sobering reminders. The Lord is sovereign, and children, especially as they near adulthood, bear responsibility for their sin. Nonetheless, parents—perhaps especially fathers—have a great duty before the Lord. Their children must be taught to worship the Lord, to pray, to obey the Scriptures, and to give thanks to God in all circumstances. They need to learn from their parents that the Bible is the ultimate authority, and that God’s ways are always good.

The book of Deuteronomy offers specific guidance in this. Parents are commanded to have God’s words in their own hearts and are then commanded:

“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. . . . You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:7, 9)

The Old Testament book of Proverbs gives the same counsel: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

While there are no guarantees given in Scripture, there is every hope that this kind of faithful instruction will have its intended effect. In His kindness, the Lord often works through parents, grandparents, and godly pastors and teachers to convert children at a young age—to teach them the Bible, point them to Christ, and set for them a godly example of trusting and worshiping the Lord. We often see men such as Timothy, who, because of the influence of a godly mother and grandmother, “from childhood [was] acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).

God loves to show compassion from one generation to another. What a reason for confidence! He is the God who shows mercy “for thousands” (Ex. 34:6). He has ordained that “one generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Ps. 145:4). It is hardly an accident that this multigenerational mercy is one of the primary truths that Mary declares as she reflects on the birth of Jesus, our eternal Savior: “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).