"My son, observe the commandment of your father. And do not forsake the teaching of your mother"
It is my hope that my girls will learn the proverbs and use these as their guide for life. If they will use the precepts of wisdom as their guide, then they will enjoy their life and be pleasing to God.
I am writing this annotated Proverbs account to be a guide to them and to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Love God and love your neighbor as yourself are the two key commands that this father would give his girls.
They must overcome the foolishness in their heart. Foolishness will destroy them. Foolishness is the urge within every person to be selfish, to be impulsive, and to be in charge of themselves or rebellious.
my son observe the commandment of your father
It is important to realize that this message is for the children and for the parents. Who really makes a child listen to the commands and wisdom of a father? It is the father and the mother. If a parent does not insist that their children pay attention when they say something, they will be raising a fool. Those parents will know no end of grief when the little selfish child grows up. Dads and moms must cause their children to act when they give a direct order. It is this type of training that is essential for the driving out of foolishness from the child. If the parents do not stop the child from being selfish and to do what the parents want them to, they are imprisoning the child in a world where all their impulses feel right and everybody else’s ideas and suggestions seem wrong. If this is taken to extreme, then love is not possible.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz