What does catch them young mean?

  In Africa, a child's wayward lifestyle is mostly seen or regarded as a parent's inability to play its role well in the child’s upbringing. When a child is seen in a wayward act, the first thing people will be curious to know is whose child is, and then the integrity of the parents will be questioned because of their child's wilful lifestyle. 

  A child who lacks good parenting with time will be a pain to the parents, community, and even to the nation because there is a quote that says, "Children are the future generation." But if I may ask, what happens if the future generation lacks a home upbringing? That means the future will severely suffer as a result of the parent's bad parenting of their child. Also, a child's upbringing is not only the parent's responsibility even though parents have much part to play, but the future is not just for the child's family alone but also for the nation and the world too. 

  Many parents are fond of saying that "their child is still a baby when he grows he will learn". Then my question is, what happened to the scripture that says "train up a child" in Proverbs 22:6, and why is it that the time parents are expected to train future leaders they used in pampering them into a destructive path? The fact children are allowed to grow without a proper guide or training given to them makes them a future pain, and heartbreak to their generation. 

  Do you remember Eli in the bible? What caused his tragic death and that of his sons and many of the sons of Israel was because of his children's transgression. Before the tragedy, it was reported to him of his son's atrocities in the house of God in 1 Samuel 2:22-25, he talked to his sons but they did not stop their evil act which made God send a prophet to him in verse 27-36 concerning his sons but he did nothing, and God also went ahead to speak to Samuel in 1 Samuel 3: 11-15 on the same issue but after all the warning Eli said God should do what seems good to Him in verse 16-18.

  Before Eli's children's misconduct, the bible first stated in 1 Samuel 2:12 that they do not know God. They were referred to as the sons of Belial which according to Hebrew means sons of worthlessness or wickedness. Thus, that got me thinking because how come, the sons of a priest of God do not know the same God their father served and were also known to be worthless and wicked, then I concluded that the sons lacked a good upbringing. Because it is only no good upbringing that can make a child completely deviate from following his parent's footsteps. 

  And 1 Samuel 4, was a disastrous day for the people of Isreal because the transgression of the untrained sons of Eli took the lives of thirty thousand men. There was a rain of weeping, sadness, and heartbreak because of the sons of Belial's atrocities. This is why I said, it is not only parents that play a role in a child's upbringing but they have a big part to play in the training of the child because when it is to suffer for a child's waywardness everyone takes part in it. 

Note: A child is meant to be the future of his generation, but can also be a future disaster to his generation if not properly trained.  

  Being a parent is not only just getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant and having a baby. Being a parent goes beyond giving birth to a child because not everyone who gives birth to a child is worthy of the title of parent, but a parent is a mother or father who takes his or her child's spiritual and physical welfare as its ultimate priority.

Good parenting is not only by providing all the necessary things a child needs, if that is so what are the needs of his soul? There are provisions for children that are worth more than any other things, but many parents skip this kind of provision when providing for their children. It is the provision of introducing God to them at their young stage of life.  But if I may ask if a child God is not provided for when he or she is growing up, how do you expect a sure child to be godly?  

  From the above topic, it's asking what it means to catch them young which is to be an example of the kind of person you want them to be because according to the bible, it says "train up" and it takes someone with high moral standards to do so. Someone void of immoral practices, willing to teach, guide, discipline when necessary, and also living by example is worthy to train up a child.

 There is a saying that "You do not give what you do not have", because most children are untrained because their parents are also untrained. As a parent, there is no way you can go to the opposite side of life and expect your child(ren) to follow the positive side of life, that is why it is only a trained and well-cultured parent can raise a godly child(ren).

  Be an example of the kind of person you want them to be, because I have seen a mother advising her daughter to stop her wayward lifestyle that it would only ruin her life, but her daughter responded that she was learning from her. I was not surprised by her response because her mother was trying to give her what she did not have.

  To catch them young is through carrying them alone because it is disastrous leaving them behind.