WEEK 34 – DAY 2

FATHERS

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

Seems like every Sunday school or Christian elementary school class has to memorize Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” How many adult Sunday school classes memorize verse four? They should. God’s word has much to say about children. They are a reward from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). They must be trained (Proverbs 22:6). We are not to stand in the way of a child coming to Jesus (Luke 18:16). In fact, we are to be like children, trusting and humble, in our approach to the Lord (Matthew 18:3-4). Our goal as parents should be to lead our children into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Do children sometimes need to be disciplined? Of course, they do. In fact, Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 23:13, and 29:15 & 17 all talk about the importance of disciplining children. In Hebrews, we are reminded that God disciplines us as His children for our good (Hebrews 12:7-11). Discipline is never pleasant whether it is a spanking, taking away privileges, or the hardships God uses to train us as adults. The point of discipline is that it is for the good of the child. If we are training him to be more like Christ, we cannot use methods that go against what Christ teaches and demonstrates. He blessed the children as He touched them. We should never use words that tear our children down (Ephesians 5:29).  We should exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) in our dealings with our children and show them the love described in I Corinthians 13:4-8. It is possible to express disappointment with a child’s actions  and discipline her without wounding her emotionally and spiritually.

Father, help us to discipline the children in our lives with love. Father, we pray for all the parents we know. We ask that You give them wisdom in disciplining their children. Help them to discern the difference between teaching and nagging so as not to exasperate their children. Most of all, let Your love so flow through these parents that their children come to know You at the earliest possible age.