Discipline is Important: One Year Bible Reading for April 23

 Today we read from the following verses in the One Year Bible:

Judges 1:1-2:9
Luke 21:29-22:13
Psalm 90:1-91:16
Proverbs 13:24-25

Let's look at this very famous verse in Proverbs. "Spare the rod, spoil the child," is right here in the verse. Does that mean that the Bible says we must strike our children with "rods" in order to raise them to be good? As you might expect, it's a little more complex than that.

This verse absolutely means that we SHOULD discipline our children and teach them how to be good people. It is one of the holy obligations of a parent to teach their children to be good - and help them to become saints. Parking children in front of the TV or iPad and letting electronics raise them is shirking that responsibility. I'm not saying that kids should never watch TV or use other electronics. But these devices should never become a substitute for good parenting.

If you've been in public lately, you see plenty of examples of bad parenting. Kids screaming their heads off because they want something they're not getting, and parents bribing them with treats instead of teaching them manners. If we neglect our duty to train our children, we WILL spoil them (i.e. they'll become horrible people with no self-control.)

But do we have to hit them with rods? That's not what this verse means. Whether or not corporal punishment is effective or whether it's abuse is another topic, and one which I'm not qualified to address. Read some parenting books to get some good ideas about HOW to train your children. 

But by all means, please take your duty seriously. Your kids are counting on you.

Thanks, God, for teaching us to teach our children how to be good people.