The Impact of Involved Parents

As parents we may wonder what effect the raising of Godly children who can distinguish between right and wrong and have the self-control to make the right choice, will have on our society. Researcher Doug Dale studied two families whose roots went back to the 18th century. The first family began when Max Jukes and his brother married sisters. They did not believe in Christian training. They saw no need to raise their children by the guidelines of the Bible.  Over the course of many years these two unions resulted in 1026 descendants. Three hundred died very young, and many had poor health. One hundred-forty of them served time in the penitentiary for an average of 13 years each. One hundred-ninety were public prostitutes, and there were 100 alcoholics in the group. Over a hundred year period the Juke’s descendants cost the state $1,200,000! With inflation and our welfare programs today these families would have costs the state hundreds of millions of dollars!

Contrast the Juke’s  family with another family’s heritage. Jonathan Edwards became a Christian and married a girl of like belief. After graduating from Yale in 1720, Edwards became a pastor, and later the President of Princeton University.  Over many years, from their union were born 729 descendants. Among them were 300 pastors, 65 college professors, 13 university presidents,  60 authors, 3 congressman, and a vice president of the United States. Except for one individual who married someone of questionable character the family did not cost the state a single dollar!

The marked difference between the two families was the basic training of the children. So parents remember, your investment in your children’s lives will make a significant impact in everyone else’s life too.

 Psalm 112:1-2 states “How blessed is the man who greatly delights in law of the Lord, his descendants will be mighty on the earth.” In a day when financial markets seem a volatile place to invest, investing in the lives our children through Biblical training seems to be where our focus should be.