September 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Proverbs 23:12-26

¹²Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
¹³Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
¹⁴Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
¹⁵My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
¹⁶Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
¹⁷Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
¹⁸For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
¹⁹Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
²¹For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
²²Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
²³Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
²⁴The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
²⁵Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
²⁶My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

Devotional:

Physical punishment is considered by many parents to be obsolete and cruel, the venting of parental wrath. It is equated with child-beating and it would even be considered by some an infringement upon the child's 'rights.' Its mention in Scripture in this passage and others is embarrassing to some Christians. But we must not suppose ourselves to be more humane than God. He knows the power of sin and the perverseness of fallen man better than we do. Punishment, whether physical or not, must be effective. That is the force of this verse.

Verses 13 and 14 acknowledge that the sin of man is so insidious that it cannot be dealt with except by the use of radical means. And by 'radical' we stress that the means must go to the root. Mowing the lawn will not destroy weeds permanently! The dandelions that infest it must be rooted out completely. Children differ greatly. A gentle reproof is not always sufficient to impress upon some the seriousness of wrong behavior. Isolation, deprivation, or as a last resort physical punishment have to be employed with some children to underscore the necessity of obedience.

A young girl said, 'I wish I had been spanked. I was beaten, but not spanked.' Correction in love under God is not cruel. It is life-giving. It will not harm the child. It will only benefit him by pointing out God's intense hatred for sin and our need to conform to His law. 'The rod and reproof give wisdom,' we read in Proverbs 29:15, 'but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.'

Gilbert and Sullivan have a ditty, 'Let the punishment fit the crime.' This is a good rule for the home on occasions. When the offense warrants it the Christian parent need not feel guilty for using physical punishment in a calm, purposeful manner, out of love for the child and for the God who has placed this child under his care with directions for his nurture. Indeed, such a parent should feel guilty when he does not obey God in this respect!

And always must the forgiving spirit of the earthly father and heavenly Father be made apparent along with the punishment.