Matt is preaching a parenting series on Sunday mornings at our church. Yesterday’s message was about the discipline years. Here are some of the key thoughts.
5 Ways we try to correct our kids (wrongly)
- Embarrass or shame our kids
- Punish them for embarrassing us
- Force them into our personality
- Whipping boy syndrome- we take out unresolved issues in our life on our kids
- Break them down
What happens when we discipline that way?
- If we embarrass and shame them- Guilt
- If we punish or embarrass them- Anger
- If we force them into our personality- Insecurity
- If we take out our unresolved issues on them- Fear
- If we break them down- Low self-worth
The goal of discipline or correction is connection. If we correct our kids without trying to connect with them, we will only create in them feelings of isolation and rejection.
Proverbs 3:11,12 “My son despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
God loves us so much that He corrects us. If we love our children, we will take the time to correct them. I love the end of verse 12. God uses the picture of a father delighting in his son. That is how much God loves us and why He corrects us.
When we realize the big picture, that God loves us too much to not correct us to help us to be more like Him, it helps us to do the same with our children. Love them and correct them with the goal of connecting with them.
