Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 6, 2015
Fools refuse their parents’ guidance, but sensible children accept correction. Proverbs 15:5, The Voice
By God’s grace, Rita and I raised four daughters. Sometimes I corrected them well and at times not so well. I explained to our oldest that I had never experienced parenting a child her age. By default, I practiced on her—every stage of life was a new lesson of how to love her best with her love language. I learned to be calm for the most effective correction. I did not want to crush their spirit in the process of correcting their behavior. Calm correction gets the best results.
Solomon declares the wisdom of a child following his parent’s guidance. In her heart of hearts a child longs for the security of consistent and clear expectations from their mom and dad. They need to know when they misbehave they may lose a privilege, but they will never lose their parent’s love and acceptance. It’s because of love that a parent takes time to show their little ones how to navigate through life. Calm correction focuses on the reward of doing what is right. Obedience leads to opportunities. Rule following is protection from the pain of foolish choices.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Furthermore, use the Bible as the most dependable resource to define a child’s behavior. Explain terms like “honor”. What does it mean to honor your parents? Children honor their parents when they listen well, trust their instruction and joyfully obey. Another important concept for parenting is to make sure the consequence fits the extent of the misbehavior. A minor offense like not clearing the table after dinner does not deserve grounding for a month. Calm correction defines fair terms for breaking a trust. In some cases invite the child’s input in crafting the consequences.
Most of all, help your child understand how her heavenly Father lovingly corrects His children. Because the Lord loves us—He takes the time to correct us. Similarly, Jesus prepares us for life so we prepare our children for life. Indeed, life is like flying a plane. God is the pilot of our life and we are the ever learning co-pilot. Sometimes in blue skies we enjoy no correction in the smooth ride. Other times we see the storm clouds of circumstances brewing and we look for Christ’s correction to navigate through the choppy air. Correction brings blessing.
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty” (Job 5:17).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to receive Your correction, so I can calmly correct my child.
Related Readings: Leviticus 26:23; Job 36:10, 40:2; Proverbs 15:12; 2 Timothy 2:15
Post/Tweet this today: Rule following is protection from the pain of foolish choices. #calmcorrection #wisdomhunter
Additional Resource: 8 minute music video- The Gaither’s: Through it All
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