Proverbs 19:18. Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
For all the parents that are reading this devotional this morning, especially all of the frustrated parents who are ready to give up in some way in the raising of their child, the encouragement is to see the hope that disciplining your child brings.
The second line of the proverb sounds quite extreme, but what exactly is the warning?
Well, it is true that in the Deuteronomic law a child could be put to death for rebellion. But this was considered very extreme. The child would have to be a danger to his or her parents, violent and abusive. And, in the Bible, there are no examples of children being executed for their bad behavior.
More likely the proverb is using a figure of speech to show that when a parent gives up on discipline they are figuratively putting their child to death. By allowing a child to get away with foolish behavior, their parent is allowing them to follow down the path of death not life. Maybe not literal death, but the death of character and trust in God.
The warning here could also be to avoid disciplining your child out of anger. It may read like this: Yes, discipline your child, but not out of anger, wanting to hurt (kill) your child.
So hang in there, parents. Don’t stop nurturing, training, admonishing, raising your child. Discipline brings hope. There is no promise that if you discipline your child things will always go well for your child. But there is a promise that if you don’t discipline your child, all will be far worse for your child. To discipline a child out of love is to give them the sure footing on the straight path that they need to make it through the trials and temptations of this life. Never neglect this most important of parental duties, and never allow your love for your child turn into hatred of your child.
How? By remembering that there was a Father who set his heart on putting his Son to death. God the Father sent God the Son to die in our place, not for his own discipline, but for ours. God disciplined humanity to the fullest in the cross of Christ. Now there is hope for all mankind, even your toddler that is testing your every limit. Even your teenager that believes they have no need of your guidance. Even your adult child who has wandered far from God.
I hope you believe in this hope. The hope of eternal life, the hope of Christ-likeness, the hope of glory, this is the hope that must motivate our disciplining of our children. And this same hope allows all of us, whether we are parents or not, to accept the discipline of the Lord. God’s discipline of those who are in Christ is never from anger but love. And no matter how much we may want God’s discipline to end, it never will. He will never desire to simply put us to death. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Will you let the hope of Christ drive you ever deeper into that repentance today?
You: Are you a parent that has grown weary in raising your children?
You in Christ: How does the hope we have in Christ allow us to discipline from love, not exhaustion?
Christ in you: Where do you need to rely on the love of Christ in order to both receive God’s discipline in your own life, while re-engaging your children in nurturing discipline?
Pray: Father, I have found hope in your disciplining of me, now help me to give hope to my children in my disciplining of them. Amen.
To Live is Christ 