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I've also checked off several other chores off my list, including washing dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, and I've started the laundry. Now that I've got the boys in bed and Megan is entertained I am going to take a few minutes to review our Bible Study lesson from yesterday.
Tom and I are a part of the young couples Bible Study class at our church. It includes anyone who has been married for 10 years or less. Yesterday's study was focused on parenting, and specifically discipline. I'm sure I'm not the only mother who struggles with disciplining her children. After all, the world's idea of discipline and God's idea of discipline aren't exactly similar. I do believe that spanking is Biblical. In fact, the Bible has some pretty strong things to say about those who 'spare the rod'. Modern day parenting experts say spanking isn't loving, or spanking just teaches violence, but what does the Bible say? I know many Christians who say they believe that the Bible is the Word of God and His authority for our lives, yet don't 'believe' in spanking their children. Well, in that instance they are contradicting themselves. Here are a collection of verses that deal specifically with parenting and discipline.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! you shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. and these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Proverbs 22:8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail.
Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.
Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you spank him with a rod, he will not die. You shall spank him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell.
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Proverbs 19:18 Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his crying.
Proverbs 29:17 Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Being a mother is the hardest job that I've ever committed to. There are black and white and gray areas to wade through, and not just for the sake of raising children that act right, but for the sake of raising children who know and love God. There is heartache and joy; challenges and triumphs. And I can think of no other job that has shown me my own shortcomings so clearly and pushed me in my own relationship with Christ. I know without Him I am nothing, but through Christ all things are possible, including this amazingly difficult job of raising my children!
Psalm 127:1-5 (The Message Bible)
1-2 If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
3-5 Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.
1-2 If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
3-5 Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.
1 comment:
That's a great study for a young mother! Remember as the parent you are in control. You don't need to be angry when you discipline, in fact you should not be angry. You should be on top of what your children are doing so that when they disobey you know it and can correct, firmly and lovingly. A sound spanking by a loving parent confirms your love to your child. Always make sure you affirm your love, teach them and comfort them following the discipline but be consistant and don't waver. They will remember the discipline and soon begin to internalize their own control so that the discipline will not always need to be externally from you.
Shunning your child by sending them to their room allows them to formulate their own understanding which usually involves thinking they aren't loved and forces them to try to figure it out on their own when they don't have the maturity to do so. Discipline needs to be instant, up close and personal from a loving parent who administers the discipline, loves them and comforts them, teaches them why they were disciplined and then sends them on their happy way.
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