“and nurse him for me.” Time passed. “And the child [Moses] grew up. Then she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, so that he became a son to her.” (Ex. 2:1-10) Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, thus had given the youth protective training from infancy, instilling in the child’s mind the laws of God and the love for God.

¹⁰ The training Moses received from infancy imparted to him a basis for his faith, a basis for a tremendous decision he was later to make. Yes, on the basis of the training given to Moses at his home in Goshen, he chose rather to be with the people of God, rejecting the royal court and its lucrative and luxurious opportunities, despite the fact that he had been given training in all the worldly wisdom of the Egyptians. “Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” (Acts 7:22) The education Moses received in Egypt was designed to fit him for a high office in the government, if not even for the Egyptian throne. But did Moses say: ‘Hum, it appears as if I am in line for a big governmental post, maybe the throne itself. Now, I would like to help my people, but I will just wait till the king dies, and then from the throne of Egypt it will be easy to help my people’? No! Moses rejected such thoughts. “By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin.” (Heb. 11:24, 25) Moses made the right decision, for once he was in power he may well have been faced with overwhelming temptations. The example of Moses is the highest recommendation for protective training from infancy. What indelible benefits such training brings!

11. To make protective training of children a success what else is required, and how is it demonstrated?

¹¹ Success in protective training of children today requires not only that it begin from infancy but that there be unity of action and right example set by the parents themselves. Parents who are true Christians are not to be divided on the matter of training their children. They have only one Authority, one authoritative Source, so why should they not be at unity? Unity of action means that the wife will not undermine the husband’s discipline nor the husband the wife’s discipline. Unity of action means that both parents enforce Jehovah’s discipline, not just the father. The mother does not allow the children to do as they wish, and then, when father comes home, they suddenly have to conform to Jehovah’s ways. The program for protecting the new generation is not off and on; it must be in effect twenty-four hours a day.

GIVING CHILDREN THE MIND OF GOD

12. What is Paul’s counsel, and how are children brought up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah?

¹² Children need the mind of God on matters. The imparting of this knowledge, beginning at infancy, continues progressively right through those crucial teen-age years. The apostle Paul wrote this counsel: “Fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) How are children brought up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah? Paul’s words “authoritative advice,” in the original Greek, literally suggest the idea of putting a mind into someone. Well, whose mind does the child or youth need for protection? Jehovah’s mind, of course! To bring children up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah, put the mind of Jehovah into the children, not only while they are infants or youngsters but continually, progressively.

13. How can parents give children the mind of God at an early age, and whose example shows it can be done?

¹³ To give children the mind of God it is necessary for parents to teach them God’s commandments, using language and illustrations appropriate to their age. Break the words of God down into digestible form so that even very young children can grasp them. Did not Eunice put the mind of God into Timothy “from infancy”? It can be done. It requires patience, a good deal of time and the need to make divine principles clear to the childish mind. But, as in the case of Timothy, how great the benefits!—2 Tim. 3:15.

14, 15. (a) What must parents make clear to their children? (b) Explain how parents could put the mind of God into their children regarding such matters as stealing and lying.

¹⁴ Parents are really putting the mind of God into children when they make it crystal clear that they must and will uphold the supremacy of Jehovah’s law. For example, when teaching children not to steal, explain why—that there is much more than mere parental wish or desire involved in the matter. Let the children know it is not just your mind on a matter but that it is God’s mind and that you are accountable in the eyes of God to enforce divine law. So after explaining what stealing is, take the Bible, open it to appropriate verses and read to the child what the mind of God is: “You must not steal” is what God commands. But go beyond Exodus 20:15 and read other verses, such as Ephesians 4:28: “Let the stealer steal no more.” By doing this the child knows that it is a serious matter, that God’s will is of primary importance and that his parents will always support God’s commandments.

¹⁵ Progressively protect the new generation with the mind of God. After one point has been made clear, go on to another. For instance, explain to the child what lying is, who the first liar was, why falsehood displeases God and what the fate of liars will be. Sit down again with the child and open the Bible, showing the child what the mind of God is. Besides reading scriptures that express God’s disapproval on lying, show that God himself sets the example, reading, for instance, the scriptures: “All the paths of Jehovah are loving-kindness and trueness.” “It is impossible for God to lie.” (Ps. 25:10; Heb. 6:18) The use of scriptures expressing the divine will on matters of conduct and that God himself sets the example, coupled with good parental example in all these things, will give a child powerful protection against the evils of the day.

16. At an appropriate age what should young people know, and so what should the parents do about it?

¹⁶ As children grow older, there comes a time when parents need to give them God’s mind on proper moral conduct between the sexes. Again, mere parental statements forbidding what is wrong are not enough. Give Jehovah’s “authoritative advice” by going to the Bible and reading the scriptures about the chaste conduct that God requires of Christians. Knowledge of worldly pitfalls can also be given. Teen-age girls of Christian parents, for example, can be warned what is likely to happen as they grow in attractiveness: how worldly boys and men may approach them, putting temptations before them. Before these temptations occur, parents need to protect the new generation by giving them the protective authoritative advice of Jehovah God.

SHARPENING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS IN THEIR MINDS

17. (a) Besides progressiveness in child training, what else is important, and why? (b) How is its importance stressed by Moses?

¹⁷ Just as important as progressiveness, in protecting the new generation, is repetition. Once a child has been instructed with God’s mind on certain principles of conduct, the matter is not ended. It is easy for a commandment to become hazy, fuzzy, unclear. When one is faced with a temptation, he needs God’s word so sharply etched in his mind that he can resist the temptation just as quickly and surely as Joseph resisted the temptation put in his path by Potiphar’s wife. There was not the slightest doubt in Joseph’s mind that if he yielded to the temptation, he would be sinning against God. (Gen. 39:7-12) Repetition to sharpen God’s commandments in our minds is the idea behind Moses’ words at Deuteronomy 6:6, 7: “These words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”

18. (a) Why did Moses so command the Israelites, and why are his words so apt today? (b) What are the twofold benefits of heeding this divine counsel?

¹⁸ This repetitive inculcating of Jehovah’s mind on all matters is for the protection of both children and parents. In this world with wickedness so commonplace, with temptations to go wrong almost everywhere, it is more vital than ever to keep the Word of God, the commandments of God, always fresh in our mind. Moses warned the Israelites of the conditions to come when they would have contact with heathen nations. He knew that there would be a tendency to fall away from God’s laws; so Moses exhorted them to faithfulness and commanded them to protect the new generation by regularly inculcating God’s laws into youthful minds. Similarly with Christians today, in this world where it is impossible to avoid total contact with those who are not true worshipers of God, protection is gained by keeping God’s commandments clear in mind. And when parents inculcate these divine laws in their children ‘and speak of them when they sit in their house and when they walk on the road and when they lie down and when they get up,’ the parents also get reflex benefits from all this. Parents have impressed upon their own minds the mind of God. The idea, then, is to put the mind of God into the children and continually sharpen the awareness of divine commandments in their mind by repetition, so that there is no mistake as to what they mean.

19. What fact regarding divine law should be made most clear to children, and what therefore should be the conduct of both adults and children under those circumstances?

¹⁹ Make it clear, too, that divine law applies just as much when children are away from home as it does when they are at home. Young people at times may go to different localities or cities where they are temporarily away from the eyes of their parents. Teach children that, though they may not be under the immediate purview of human supervisors, they are never away from the eyes of Jehovah God! “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the bad ones and the good ones.” (Prov. 15:3) This scripture shows that nothing escapes the notice of Jehovah God. He has the means of observing everything, small or great. But, unlike the spies and secret police of worldly nations, Jehovah’s watching is for our good. Children should know this and be taught that, when away from home, they are not free to indulge in worldly practices that they would never do when under the eyes of parents and servants in the Christian congregation. Adults themselves should always set a fine example for the new generation when they visit strange cities and are away from their home congregation.

20. Explain some of the authoritative advice of Jehovah that should be given children. What will be the result?

²⁰ Many, then, are the principles of conduct that children should be taught from infancy onward. What a broad range Jehovah’s protective authoritative advice covers! Teach children the Bible view of money so that they neither overvalue it nor undervalue it. Teach them moderation in all habits. Teach them God’s law regarding association and how bad association will assuredly spoil their good habits. Teach them to read what is wholesome and upbuilding. Teach them to resist the worldly crowd, to flee from folly and badness no matter how much ridicule is heaped upon them by worldly youths. Teach them to “quit being fashioned after this system of things.” (Rom. 12:2) Teach them responsibility by giving them responsibility. Teach them respect for the property of others. Teach them the sanctity of human life. How often newspapers tell of some child shooting another person, accidentally or otherwise! Why should children be pointing guns, toy or real, at people in the first place? Teach children to put on the “weapons of the light” and to wield God’s Word, “the sword of the spirit.” Give them a personal copy of the Bible at an early age. Teach them divine law regarding marriage, that a Christian is ‘free to marry only in the Lord.’ Let children know the sad results of flouting Jehovah’s laws. All this is a tremendous responsibility, this putting the mind of God into children; but the result is protection for the new generation.—Rom. 13:12; Eph. 6:17; 1 Cor. 7:39.

21. To avoid the worldly trend, what will Christian parents do, resulting in what blessing for their children?

²¹ Though the worldly trend is for adults to need protection from the new generation, Christian parents will not allow this trend to develop in their own households. Start from infancy, as Moses’ parents did. Keep on giving children the authoritative advice of Jehovah, making certain that the great Protector’s commandments are implanted ineradicably in their minds by repetition. Give young persons the mind of God through those critical teen-age years when increasing snares confront them. Protect the new generation with wholehearted interest and love. Then the new generation will be used both now and in the new world, to glorify forever the one whose authoritative advice makes protection possible—Jehovah God!

Each One Will Render an Account

“We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God.”—Rom. 14:10, 12.

1, 2. With whom do we all have an accounting? Regarding what, and why?

NO PERSON can escape rendering an account to God. The great Judge, we are assured, “will make an accounting on the earth.” It makes no difference where we live or what religion we profess, “there is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.”—Rom. 9:28; Heb. 4:13.

² Whether done in public or in secret, we will render an account for our deeds. All that we do is “openly exposed to the eyes” of the Judge of the universe. We must render an account as to how well we have measured up to the commandments of God: “The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the