THINK TOGETHER.
Do your parents ever have to discipline you?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 13:24. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
What is this rod that Solomon is talking about here? Well, it is the "rod of discipline" or punishment. For us today it might mean literally getting a spanking, or some other punishment like time out or being grounded. Solomon is saying that parents who love their kids punish their kids when they do wrong.
What Solomon says here might sound backwards. We might think, "If my parents love me they won't punish me." Or, "When they do punish me it's because they are mad at me and hate me." But the truth is the exact opposite.
Parents who truly love their kids will confront and punish them when they purposefully disobey. And parents who hate their kids will ignore or overlook their child's wrong doing. Why would a parent avoid punishing their children? Because they love something else more than they love their kids. Maybe they love themselves and their own comfort more. Or maybe they love the approval of their child more than they love their child's maturity and growth.
It's very easy for your parents to get it wrong when they punish you. They might be too upset, or not have all the facts. Your parents will never be perfect. But never forget that they discipline you because they love you very much and they want you to learn to do the right things. Whatever kind of discipline rod they use, they use it in order to help make you wise and not a fool.
As we've seen before, the New Testament book of Hebrews says that God is our good father who also punishes us. Why? Because he loves us very much like a parent loves their child. In fact, we know God loves us because he punishes us. And we know God loves us so much that he would take the ultimate punishment, death and hell, upon himself on the cross for us.
Because of Jesus we will never face the worst punishment – separation from God.
With Jesus God's punishments are always for our good.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
If you haven't in a while, discuss your family discipline system together so that it is clear to your children what punishments are used and why.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, thank you for loving me and taking my punishment on the cross. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment