Because I Love You…

It was one of those weekends to which any parent can probably relate.   

The need for what I call “everyday discipline” often seems to come in waves, and we were surfin’ USA.  I hate sounding like a broken record, and even worse yet, becoming a nag.  For reasons unknown to me, my two younger boys ran a course over two days that had me correcting them every few hours for one reason or another.  Right up to church time on Sunday morning we were battling over the same 'ol house rules and I was becoming more exasperated with each additional infraction.   

When we arrived at church and discovered the sermon was about passionate parenting, and specifically on the topic of discipline, I couldn’t help but think the timing was providential.

Few parenting topics have been written about as much as discipline.  In fact, a Google search of “disciplining children” yields 3,030,000 results!  My boss and mentor, Dr. James Dobson, wrote one of the definitive and best-selling books on the subject, titled Dare to Discipline.  I encourage every parent read D2D at least once, and re-read it when you can use encouragement or have specific questions.

Many solid principles of disciplining kids were reiterated in the sermon, such as: the value of consistency, the importance of setting meaningful consequences, and the need to distinguish between criticism of behavior and a personal character indictment.  The most important and fundamental point that hit home for me was the reason for discipline, so clearly communicated in Hebrews 12:6:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Like the Lord with all His children, our being willing to discipline and meet the parenting challenge to do it biblically and effectively is love.  Period.  Focused on the issue at hand, I sometimes forget to share this fundamental rationale with my children.  

There was also value in my sons hearing that loving discipline is a mandate, a job assigned to their parents by the Heavenly Father.  As the pastor made the connection I literally watched the light go on in my boy's eyes - yet another reason to help our children get into the Word of God and to have them engaged in a church setting where other Christian leaders can come alongside us as parents.

Finally, if we are truly acting in love as we discipline, it greatly helps with the frequent challenges that surround this key parenting responsibility.