Billions of dollars are being spent on the federal and local level to build better schools and to implement newer and better educational programs. The evident lack of success motivates one to ask whether or not these efforts are in some ways actually making matters worse. These are the three basic skills that one needs to function successfully in life. A person is to be pitied who has not had the advantage of a basic education. While we view these basic skills as essential, the Bible speaks of another factor that is even more essential.
Nothing can be more basic than that which is the principal part.
Perhaps it could best be illustrated in this way. What the alphabet is to our written and spoken language, the fear of the Lord is to knowledge. The alphabet is the principal part of our language. Without it we could not form the words with which to communicate. This is the basic personal restraining factor which is conspicuously missing.