The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
The rod and reproof are correction and instruction, and they impart wisdom to children. Proper discipline makes children far happier than leaving them to follow untrained impulses, and children left without discipline are never truly happy. To leave a child to himself is to let him have his own way and grow up without discipline or the direction of wise counsel. That neglect is like leaving soil uncultivated, and it is cruel.
Parental idleness and unwise indulgence give the devil room to work and place control in his hands. Such indulgence does not keep children close but separates them from their parents and leads them into the ranks of Satan the great deceiver, even though Satan urges indulgence as the way to keep children near. Children left to follow their own will may become hardened in wrongdoing. Left to choose their own way and form character without wise guidance, they swing away from the barriers of truth and stand in great danger of being swept downward to ruin by the temptations of the enemy, and one undisciplined child ruins hundreds of others.
A child left to himself brings his mother to shame, and she bears responsibility for first allowing self-will. Any child permitted to have his own way dishonors God and brings both father and mother to shame. Permitting self-will through false ideas and foolish, misdirected affection nurtures traits that make children unlovely and unhappy and embitters the lives of parents. Utter neglect of training for God perpetuates evil by throwing into the enemy's ranks many who with judicious care might have been co-laborers with Christ, and this baleful influence extends from generation to generation.
Parents must first educate themselves rightly and then apply God's given precepts and truths to their children. They must not permit Satan to take the children from their hands but must bring them early to Christ and teach them that Christ alone can keep them from the tempter's power, using unceasing watchfulness and prayer as weapons to overcome the foe. They are required to bring up their children to know God and to respect His claims, training their little ones as younger members of the Lord's family to have beautiful characters and lovely tempers, that they may be fitted to shine in the heavenly courts. By neglecting this duty and indulging their children in wrong, parents who claim to be Christians close to them the gates of the city of God, yet light shining from the word of God leaves none with excuse for error about this duty.
The rod and reproof are correction and instruction, and they impart wisdom to children. Proper discipline makes children far happier than leaving them to follow untrained impulses, and children left without discipline are never truly happy. To leave a child to himself is to let him have his own way and grow up without discipline or the direction of wise counsel. That neglect is like leaving soil uncultivated, and it is cruel.
Parental idleness and unwise indulgence give the devil room to work and place control in his hands. Such indulgence does not keep children close but separates them from their parents and leads them into the ranks of Satan the great deceiver, even though Satan urges indulgence as the way to keep children near. Children left to follow their own will may become hardened in wrongdoing. Left to choose their own way and form character without wise guidance, they swing away from the barriers of truth and stand in great danger of being swept downward to ruin by the temptations of the enemy, and one undisciplined child ruins hundreds of others.
A child left to himself brings his mother to shame, and she bears responsibility for first allowing self-will. Any child permitted to have his own way dishonors God and brings both father and mother to shame. Permitting self-will through false ideas and foolish, misdirected affection nurtures traits that make children unlovely and unhappy and embitters the lives of parents. Utter neglect of training for God perpetuates evil by throwing into the enemy's ranks many who with judicious care might have been co-laborers with Christ, and this baleful influence extends from generation to generation.
Parents must first educate themselves rightly and then apply God's given precepts and truths to their children. They must not permit Satan to take the children from their hands but must bring them early to Christ and teach them that Christ alone can keep them from the tempter's power, using unceasing watchfulness and prayer as weapons to overcome the foe. They are required to bring up their children to know God and to respect His claims, training their little ones as younger members of the Lord's family to have beautiful characters and lovely tempers, that they may be fitted to shine in the heavenly courts. By neglecting this duty and indulging their children in wrong, parents who claim to be Christians close to them the gates of the city of God, yet light shining from the word of God leaves none with excuse for error about this duty.