Jason Dohm explains in this video that when we look at the life of Eli and his sons, we can learn much. When Eli hears that his sons are engaging in sin, he confronts his sons but yet fails to restrain his sons. Verbally contradicting our children is not the same thing as restraining them. We should take actions to suppress sin in our households. Often, words are not enough in the formative years.

Proverbs 29:17 (NKJV) - "Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul."

The study of Eli in the early chapters of 1 Samuel was really interesting because when Eli hears reports of the wickedness of his sons, he doesn't turn a blind eye. He actually confronts them about it. He says, know my sons. What is this that I hear from you? You cannot do these things.

And yet when God confronts him by sending him a prophet, he says, you would not restrain them. I think one of the really valuable things we get out of that is that just verbally contradicting our children is not the same thing in God's eyes as as restraining them. We can't just say no, we have to follow through and make sure to suppress evil in our households. Wickedness is bound up in the human heart and just a verbal contradiction is not enough in the formative years. God doesn't call that restraining.