Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ! You are welcome to the pages of our “Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! We are still talking about why God allows pain and suffering in our lives; His goal is to draw our attention and draw us near to Himself to correct and to discipline us. I want to make sure we understand the difference between discipline and punishment. We are going to talk about that right now. These two words are often used as synonyms, yet they are not the same. Punishment is a sentence pronounced by court after it has established someone’s guilt. Punishment is a reprimand or a fine. Discipline, on other hand, includes some measure of judgment or punishment, but it goes a step further: discipline is meant to correct, instruct or cause changes in the life of a person that has been wrong . Besides, discipline requires some type of compensation or remedy that would prove that the guilty one has admitted his quilt and is deeply sorry. An offender might say: “I am sorry for what I did. Please, forgive me!” It is discipline that helps such a person to see that he is guilty and has offended other people and has caused damage to them.
THE GOAL OF DISCIPLINE IS REPENTANCE OF PRODIGAL SONS AND THEIR RETURN TO HOME: «As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent» (Revelation, 3:19).
Repentance is the right reaction to discipline! Sin never is just one’s personal business, so to speak. Sin is not something you do to yourself; sin is something that inevitably affects others. Based on the Word of God, allow me to say very clearly that parents should discipline their children and use spanking or ‘a rod’ as one of the method. It says in the Bible: “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly» (Proverbs, 13:24).
We also read that: «Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him»(Proverbs, 22:15).
Considering all this, we can make the following conclusion: if love is the foundation or prerequisite of discipline, then if we punish our children by rod or spanking without love, we offend our children and abuse our parental authority. The purpose of a rod is not to hurt a child for his bad behaviour. A rod is meant to teach the children to distinguish right from wrong. Do not spank your children in anger or when you’re ‘out of love’. When we understand that the basis and the necessary prerequisite of discipline is love we can see the goal of discipline: it is to protect them from the difficulties and problems that come into a person’s life as a consequence of sin and rebellion. Through discipline we as parents teach our children the truth that sinful pleasures are fleeting but have serious consequences. Through discipline we help them see that it is better to choose the life of obedience and righteousness, than to get all the riches of the world but be far away from God and His standards. God disciplines every one of us for the very same reasons. We will continue on this tomorrow! I wish you God’s abundant blessings! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
