This Proverb says, “My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.” One of the greatest joys of parenthood is to have a child who grows up into a good and respectable adult. To have an adult child who is a good husband and father and a person who makes good decisions fills a parent’s heart with joy.
It is no accident when children becomes good adults. They become good adults because of their upbringing. They become good adults because of the way they were raised. A child who has good parents who live rightly before God will likely use their parents as a model for their own lives. Good parents will generally produce good children.
Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Bad parents will likely produce children who become bad adults. Parents who live sinful lives will likely produce children who become sinful adults. The Bible says, “The sins of the father will be visited on the children to the fourth generation.” Therefore, a sinful father will damage his offspring for many years to come.
The effects of sin are devastating. Sin leads to spiritual death. Sin leads to an eternity of misery and pain separated from God. If people realized this they would be well motivated to turn away from sin and live rightly before God.
