Proverbs for Parenting

Raising children in today's society is no easy feat. There are so many items as parents that we are contending with. My biggest contention is the "norm" of society as it comes to media and materialism. It is something that bothers me to no end. Stuff just equals stuff: no more, no less. Dealing with contentions in my perspective is not as difficult when we use the bible as our guide. The truth lies in the directions we were given in this text.

The same goes for discipline '" an area where EVERY parent struggles. We all have our views of how to discipline and what we believe is right and wrong. Many of us, including me, even have preset notions about how we want to discipline, and then our children don't fit the mold to allow us to utilize these notions and we have to start from scratch.

The bible has many references for discipline. I especially like the verse in Deuteronomy 8:5. "Know then in your hear that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you."

This makes me put into perspective the use of discipline and how we can provide teachable lessons for our children. Obviously, we are also receiving teachable moments too. That is the beauty of discipline.

Proverbs is an excellent resource to read that addresses discipline on many occasions. I believe Proverbs also re-addresses the lesson from Deuteronomy since it speaks clearly about the lack of discipline. If we do not discipline, we are not providing teachable moments to our children or to ourselves.

Proverbs 10:17 says, "He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. " I know that I don't want to be responsible for leading my children astray. I want to help provide guidelines for my children so that they have a good understanding of positive and negative behavior.

Proverbs clearly states that when we heed correction from discipline, we all gain understanding. Proverbs 13:24 states, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."

I'm pretty sure no parent wants to be condemned of hating their children '" but that is what the bible says we're doing if we ignore situations that require discipline.

We all want well-rounded children that have a great passion for life and understanding of Jesus Christ. Read Proverbs. This is an excellent tool as parents for us to realize how essential positive discipline is in our homes. What verse rings true to you? Please share. As parents we can always share insight and the message to work together to discipline well.