The importance of Godly discipline
“I’ll be good Daddy; I’ll be good!” I still remember the solemness of the service in a small country church being interrupted by my brother repeating the above promise several times as my dad picked him up out of his seat and carried him out of the church. How embarrassing it was for the rest of the family—but my parents believed in discipline and, knowing my brother, he’d already been quietly asked to behave properly several times before this embarrassing moment.
This month’s Gem is on discipline and goes hand in hand with last month’s on training. It also comes from the book of Proverbs and reads:
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves just as a father disciplines the son/daughter in whom he delights.
Proverbs 3:12
What a special understanding this Gem gives us on discipline—Discipline must come out of love.
How then do we discipline in love? This concept is referred to in several places in both the Old and New Testaments which indicates it’s importance. I like the way Proverbs 13: 24b is translated in the New Living Translation—Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. This gives the idea that parents must take time to work out what disciplining their children means to them so that both parents are in agreement as to how they will administer their discipline. I’m thankful that my husband and I had done this and that my sons and their wives have also taken the discipling of their children seriously.
Some of the older translations use the word chastisement for discipline. As someone has explained, chastisement is for the sake of the person being disciplined and is intended to instruct and to change behaviour. For example, letting children have their own way isn’t necessarily doing the loving thing.
Helping them to accept delayed gratification or explaining the situation more clearly to the child, may be a better approach. If discipline is administered in a thoughtful way, children will soon appreciate the love behind it. Be careful not to make thoughtless threats that you don’t intend to follow through on and don’t discipline in anger.
Start discipling your children from an early age. Don’t leave it till the terrible twos.
I recently picked up a modern-day quote which says,
“Children must experience the reasonable consequences of their actions.”
This is particularly applicable to teenagers, but works best if parents have been disciplining their children well all along. Disciplining children also involves training them to make good decisions in life and I plan to discuss that in my next Gem. Be assured that good discipline is one of the keys to raising well adjusted adults.
May God bless and guide you as you seek to discipline your children in a Godly way.
Grandma Adele
