Discipline your son for in that there is hope. Do not be a willing party to his death. ~Proverbs 19:18
Do not withhold discipline from a child. If you punish him with a rod, he will not die. Punish him with a rod and save his soul from death. ~Proverbs 23:13-14
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedech. ~Hebrews 5:6-12
Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as His child. ~Hebrews 12:5B-6
Yesterday we talked about properly valuing and appreciating the gift of life that we have been given. Discipline is how we learn to use it. Let’s visit the hammer analogy again. We said yesterday that you might give someone a good hammer because you perceived that they were interested in building and carpentry. Well, even if they want to use your gift appropriately, just giving it to them won’t instruct them on how to use it. If they end up smashing things because that’s all they think it’s good for, then they can’t really be blamed for not using it properly.
Discipline comes from another, preferably the gift giver, who has the knowledge, and is willing to take the time to help them learn how to use it constructively. Yes, it is possible to be self-disciplined, but not until discipline is instilled by another who already knows. To hand someone a valuable gift and turn them loose can be irresponsible, but to hand someone the gift that includes your time, talent, and correction along with modeling your own self-discipline, that is a form of discipleship.
Even Jesus, who made the rules for the gift of life, had to “learn obedience,” not because He didn’t know what obedience was, but because He didn’t know how to live obedience in a fallen world. So, He learned through the discipline of the earthly walk to know what it’s like to have parents born in sin, what it is like to have instructors, what it is like to feel hunger and have to wait to be fed, what it is like to wait your turn in line, pay taxes, live under oppression.
I’m sure He watched His Father Joseph endure all these things and emulated it. He saw His Mother Mary’s tears and learned how to comfort. He learned what it was like to have to share and care for siblings. He experienced creating with His hands instead of just being able to speak things into being. Amazingly, through all those lessons, along with the temptations to resist, he never once sinned.
On earth, with our children first, and then, if we are able, hopefully with our children in Christ, we have been given the task of discipling them, to guide them into proper use of the life that we have been given, both here on earth and eternal. We teach them to appreciate life. We teach the skills needed. When we do, we demonstrate how much we value the gift of their lives.
Our responsibility to lovingly discipline the next generation should not be shunned by us or taken lightly. It is a loving tool that we use to disciple and shape others. We should never see discipline as control or power over another. In the end, biological or adopted children, and our spiritual children who come to Christ because of us, have their own calling that is unique, different from ours. Discipline is the means by which we pass along the basic principles that we all need to flourish and become all that we were intended to be.
“Discipline your son for in that there is hope. Do not be a willing party to his death.” This makes choosing not to discipline a serious matter between life and death! You have probably heard it said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” When we are talking about the principles to guide us in how to handle life, it is. Our proverbs for today are meant to be an encouragement to those of us responsible to administer discipline more than a reassurance to those receiving it. From both sides, however, when you are disciplined appropriately, feel loved. If you are the one doing the discipline, don’t hold back, but let your motive be love because you want to help the other become all they can possibly be.
Prayer: Loving Father, I accept Your loving discipline of me, that comes through the power of Your Word, sharper than any two-edged sword. Honestly Lord, help me to let You cut away the dross. And thank You for blessing me with children and disciples and love for them, so that they learn of You from me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: The Perfect Wisdom of Our God
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