Discipline

Cindy and I are blessed to have three wonderful grown children. Through God’s mercy and grace they have overcome all of the mistakes that we as parents made in trying to raise them. With a lot of faith, continual prayer, and a little discipline they have all turned out to be beautiful children that we are very proud of. But, far be it from me to tell or advise anyone about how to raise children. I am one of those people that before we had children would see a child screaming and acting up in the grocery store or restaurant and vow to my wife that “our children would never act that way, because we would not put up with it.” Well, we have three children and have “eaten” those words many times. If nothing else raising our children taught me to never say “never”. Even though I am not qualified to give parental advice I do know that discipline has to be a part of the equation. This idea is not new, it has existed since the beginning of time. Psalm 89:30f talks of how God’s children (that would be us) “forsake” His law (that would be sin) and how He “punishes” them with “the rod and with stripes” (that would be Godly spankings). As important as discipline is though we must remember that it includes and is carried out in love. Verse 33 says “I will not remove from [them] My steadfast love.” In other words God’s discipline includes boundaries, guidelines, consequences, and most importantly unending love. The next time you need to use discipline, remember the love aspect. The next time you are being disciplined, thank Him for His unending love and faithfulness! Blessings