"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes"(Proverbs 13:24)

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:  

When I see a kid acting out, I think to myself, I hope I was not like that when I was a kid.  I have heard so many parents say that they don't know what to do with their children when they act out. Child discipline shouldn’t start when they are 3 or 4 years old; it starts when they are 3 or 4 months old.  We are all born with the Adamic nature to do wrong, we must direct children at the earliest age possible in what is right. Believe me, there is a difference between abuse and spanking.  Abuse is done out of anger, and a spanking is done out of love.  A spanking is done to correct a wrong action and to bring about an understanding.  Abuse, on the other hand, is designed to hurt.  A child who is spanked out of love will gain understanding and often correct their own wrongs and remember what happens when they don't.  A child who is abused will harbor bitterness and often lash out more.  Solomon said that if we spare the rod, we hate our children.  If we do not correct our children, there is a strong indication that we really don't love them.  Some parents don't correct their children for fear of the children not loving them. But I think that any parent who wants to see their children grow in the correct way, especially in the ways of the Lord, will correct them at the earliest stage of life.