Episode 29 – On Not Putting Your Child to Death

We are doing a sermon series on parenting right now at the Church. I found this great verse that I’m going to use regarding disciplining your kids. It’s both hilarious, and helpful all at the same time.

Here it is:

Proverbs 19:18
“Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.”

Let’s all confess together by a show of hands. Wherever you are right now just raise your hand if your child has ever made you feel murderous rage because they just wouldn’t stop saying your name with that whiney tone to their voice.

We’ve all been there. Every parent has felt trapped and over-run by a 3 year old child that was your precious progeny one minute, but has now transformed into a living, breathing, monster.

And I love that the Bible acknowledges this!

We need to be better at admitting that being a parent is not easy, and sometimes we don’t like being around our kids. We still love them, but sometimes they are not easy to like.

The writer of proverbs wants to help us with that.

We stop disciplining when we lose hope – we decide that it isn’t going to work, the child isn’t going to respond, or that you are so bad at parenting that it’s no use. That’s a terrible place to be.

What you need to realize is that you aren’t sovereign over your child, but God is. God can change their heart, and He has chosen to do that primarily through your discipline. So discipline is a sign of hope, for you and also your child.

But you know what else discipline does? It keeps you from wanting to kill the kid!

But seriously, it allows you to have a relationship with that child. It ends the contention between you, softens their heart (and yours), and restores relationship. Just like when God disciplines you.