Who doesn’t love a little Spurgeon once in a while? As I’ve grown as a man, husband, and father, I’ve appreciated more and more Spurgeon’s boldness, doctrine, and style. Some of how he communicates can be credited to his context (Victorian England in the 1800s), but I’d contend that it simply has to do with how God used and continues to his words for glory.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was often referred to as the “Prince of Preachers”, and the more you read of his sermons, the more you’ll see why. I’ll leave my introduction there, but if you’d like to learn more about C.H. Spurgeon, you read a longer bio over at The Spurgeon Center’s website.

12 Parenting Quotes from Charles H. Spurgeon

A quick note: I’ve interlaced some of my “editorial” thoughts after each quote. I hope it helps elucidate why I found each one helpful.

“Train up a child in the way he should go—but be sure you go that way yourself.”

Children are hypocrisy detectors. They’ll sense any inconsistency within us, especially when it comes to teachings of morality. For their good, and our own, we must be stirred to follow Christ wholeheartedly… then, by God’s grace, we’ll be able to lead our kids on the same path.

“Let his first little prayers be noticed by you.”

Even the smallest signs of faith in a child’s heart are worthy of celebration. Still, one of the most profound moments for me as a father was watching my first daughter read her Bible and journal for the first time. I’ll never forget it. Celebrate every small step your child takes toward trusting Jesus. What else is there?

“Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion that Sunday School is intended to ease them of their personal duties.”

Amen! Church cannot disciple our kids for us, and your local church was never meant to replace biblical teaching in your home. This quote is a timeless reminder for all parents to recognize and embrace their irreplaceable roles as disciplers of their children’s hearts.

“Let us from the beginning mingle the name of Jesus with their A B C. Let them read their first lessons from the Bible.”

It’s never too early to teach our kids the things of God. They may not understand everything, but they will.

“What a blessing to have our children enlisted in Christ’s army!”

Our greatest assurance and our grandest charge as parents is to see them follow Christ. It’s reassuring because there is no greater hope than their eternity safe in Christ’s care—regardless of what happens to them in this life.

“Tell the child that he is dead in trespasses and sins, let there be no doubt about his natural condition.”

As one of the quotes below indicates, we must tell our kids the unbridled truth… but with tenderness. However, we mustn’t soften the truth of our children’s guilt before God or we risk them not understanding the truth of God’s amazing grace: they are saved from God’s wrath through Christ alone.

“If we never have headaches through rebuking our children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up.”

Raising our children in God’s Way isn’t the easy way. It has never been the easy way. Spurgeon reminds us here that choosing the more difficult way of diligent discipleship—teaching, instructing, correcting—we can expect our faithfulness to bear fruit in their later years.

“Teach the little ones the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Someone once told Selena and I that kids don’t need watered-down versions of good things… they can handle full versions of them (classical music, good books, good food, for example). This is even more true when it comes to God’s Word and His truth. It’s not your job to change their hearts or bring deep understanding through Scripture, but it is your job as a parent to present it to them.

“Tell him he must be born again. . . . Be tender, but be true.”

This quote is similar to those which precede it!

“Gather the little ones around your knee and listen to their words, suggesting to them their needs, and reminding them of God’s gracious promise.”

I love the intimate, fun picture this paints. Every moment with our kids is a celebration when our reason for celebrating is God’s graciousness at every turn.

“Set before your child life and death, hell and heaven, judgment and mercy, his own sin, and Christ’s most precious blood.”

See above!

“In matters of doctrine you will find orthodox congregations frequently change to heterodoxy in the course of thirty or forty years and that is because too often there has been no catechizing of the children in the essential doctrines of the Gospel.”

Catechism is simply the habit of asking questions as a means of teaching our children the responses. It’s a tool used for hundreds of years by many church traditions. Check out the New City Catechism if you’d like to give it a shot for your family! There’s even an app, music, and books to help.