Parenting 101

Proverbs 19:18 "Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives."

How important is discipline for a child; well the wisest man on the planet said that it was so important that without disciple our children's lives will be ruined. There is no doubt that one of the most joyless task that we have as parents is discipline, but at the same time we must realize it is also one of the most important task given to us by God. Our role as parents is to train up our children in the ways of the Lord and produce a generation that will carry on the message and ministry of Jesus Christ, without disciple this is impossible.

There are many things that breed rebellion in the heart of a child, below are two that relate to our scripture for today. The first thing is rules without relationship. When a child grows up in a home that is full of discipline but short on love and genuine relationship many times those children rebel. We must remember that Christianity is build on a relationship with God and out of that relationship comes discipline because God loves us. The second thing that breeds rebellion is no discipline. When a child grows up in a home where the parents give the child everything it wants and caters to it every need, then when that child becomes a teenager many times rebellion will begin to flow. Why, because when that child was little they were under your care and safe, but now as a teenager they are out in the world no longer under your constant care. At this season in their lives, parents begin to try to establish rules and guidelines and this seldom works. Rebellion comes because for the first 15 years of their life there were no rules and ultimately the child's wish was the law of the family.

The Bible teaches us that if we as parents don't discipline our children while they are still young, when there is hope for change, then we ruin their lives. That doesn't mean that they are not responsible for their decisions but it does mean that we are responsible for their raising. The flip side of this scripture promises us that if we discipline our children we empower then to succeed. We have all made mistakes as parents and this message is not to condemn us, but to challenge us to step into the heavenly call of God to raise a godly generation of young people that will carry the mantle of God further than we ever imagined.