Individual Bents

For as long as I can remember, the verse from Proverbs, "Train up a child in the way he should go..." Has been a part of my life. It was often one of the reasons that my parents would give me for disciplining me. (Yes, I needed discipline!) It was also one of the memory verses that I learned as a child. I learned all about the necessity of one day training my own children to follow after God, and now I am practicing the wisdom of this verse in my daily life as a mother.
Before I was married, one of the gifts that I received from my parents was an amplified version of the Bible. I have sat under many teachings given by my mother, and she would often turn to this version to help us get a better, more in depth understanding of what God is trying to show us.
Proverbs 22:6 is a perfect example of using the amplified Bible to get a better perspective on a verse that holds wonderful truths for parents who are seeking to raise Godly children. In the NIV, the verse says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." What a wonderful promise this is! Now read what it says in the Amplified version. "Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it."
Our children are each so different! They like different foods, different colors, different activities and different songs. They each have different areas in their lives that they excel in and different areas that they need to work on. They each have individual gifts or "bents".
This is something that we need to consider when we are "training" our children. One way of discipline may be a good thing for one of your children while it may actually be a hindrance to the training of a different child. For example: One of my children has a very stubborn spirit, while another one of my children has a very sensitive spirit. If I were to reprimand the stubborn child in the same manner that I did the sensitive child, they would basically ignore me and most likely laugh instead of cry, and I would have no effect on the will of this child. Likewise, if I were to reprimand the sensitive one as I would the stubborn, I could very likely break their spirit instead of their will.
Our children have been gifted with their own individual personalities, and it is our job as parents to discover what each child's gifting is. When we have discovered these, then we need to ask God to give us wisdom in helping our children develop these giftings to use for His glory.
While some of these giftings may seem more like a curse at the moment, be assured that God will develop it into a wonderful gift that He will use.
My son Mark has a tendency to be stubborn and his will is not easily broken. At first, it was a struggle to see how God could possibly use this stubbornness for His glory, but as Mark has gotten older, I see this stubbornness developing into perseverance! (It's a slow process, but I definitely see a difference!)
Another example is my daughter Christiana. Is there such a thing as a spirit of goofiness? If she were to attend a "regular" school, I am sure that she would quickly become the class clown! She is capable of turning any situation into a comedy and has a generally fun loving personality. I can see her using this gifting to bring joy to many people, including a 91 year old woman who lives near my parents and is very lonely.
I could tell you about each of my children's giftings (perhaps one day I will) but these are two extremes that I thought would make a good point of "individual bents." I would love to hear about the bents that you have discovered in your own children!