As chapter 13 continues, and as it was brought up in the earlier week's comments, we notice that there is a contrast of the good and the wicked. What I would like to concentrate on the last verses of the chapter that deal a little bit with child rearing.
13:22 - You notice that not only are parents to leave an inheritance, but this inheritance is to be to their children's children, or their grandchildren. I must be honest with you, I never realized how much the Bible deals with us influencing our grandchildren until recently when our men in our Saturday morning Bible study read and discussed the book "Anchor Man" by Steve Farrar. All throughout the Old Testament, we are told to And this is not to start happening after your children grow up and have kids, but now while your kids are still young. I think about all of the families who are struggling today, because the faith was somehow not passed from the second generation to the third generation. May each of us reading this today seek to teach our children and live our faith in such a way that we leave a godly heritage for the third generation to inherit from us.
13:24 - Do a Google search on "spanking children" and you will see that there are a variety of thoughts on the subject. Yet, the Bible is very clear that corporal punishment is what God calls for in correcting our children. Now, lets be very clear: the Bible DOES NOT promote child abuse and beating your children. But, in a Biblical sense, I believe you are abusing your child when you spare the rod. I know that in my own childhood that I steered clear of wrong many times (but not always!) because I knew that a spanking would await me if I chose to go through with whatever sin was before me. At a young age, I learned that there are consequences for doing wrong. How many children today are spoiled, not because they are given everything they want, but because they are never given the rod of Biblical correction?
What are your thoughts today on the chapter?
You are so right, Brother. There are too many people that don't spank their children or they don't do it right. Inconsistency is one of the worst things when it comes to child-rearing. My children are only 3 and 1, but I am learning the importance of consistency. When the child knows exactly what to expect, it molds their behavior. If they know that they can do something two or three times before getting punished (spanking or otherwise), they'll continue to do it that many times - and usually it increases in quantity and intensity (they do worse things more).
ReplyDelete