NEED FOR CHILD’S DISCIPLINE

By Allen Olatunde

The word discipline denotes: control of excess; guide through the lifetime career; and orderliness.

• Discipline is control that is gained by requiring rules or orders that must be obeyed and punishing bad behaviour (Merriam Webster Dictionary - paraphrased).

• Discipline is used as a career. Why? Because career involves discipline of what must be done and what must be avoided.

• Discipline is the main word that maintains dignity and order in military. No chance for lawlessness.

WHY DO WE NEED TO DISCIPLINE OUR CHILDREN?

1.       Children want to control their parents. They have scripts to act by their knowledge and feeling and they want your undisputed approval and covering.

2.       Society is becoming a free world without control on the disguises of child’s right.

3.       God gave all parents assignment to do. We must not fail Him.

EXAMPLES OF DISCIPLINE AND CONSEQUENCES IN THE BIBLE

•  Moses ran away from Pharaoh’s discipline in the palace and met stricter discipline in the desert for 40 years. What we fail to do now will still come up but with another disciplinarian who might be stricter and annoying.

•  Eli did not strictly and emphatically discipline his children. They brought him lifetime shame and loss of priesthood. You are a product of discipline you received from your parents, guardians, teachers and relatives. You are either grateful or regretful.

• Mary and Joseph guided Jesus’ excesses at twelve (12) and He obeyed them for eighteen (18) years before He gained popularity as Saviour. Mary can never be forgotten in Jesus’ life. Where was Joseph? His input was silent about Jesus. (Food for thought).

HOW TO DISCIPLINE OUR CHILDREN
1.       Verbal warning discipline (Giving simple caution - not curses or abuses).
2.       Experiential talk discipline (Sharing your regrets, mistakes, gains and joy deliberately).
3.       ‘Denying of wants’ discipline (You will deliberately withhold some comforts and luxuries for a while until the required acts are displayed genuinely).
4.       Rod discipline (He who spares his rod hates his son/daughter, but he who loves him/her (wishes the child positive attitude and better life) disciplines him/her promptly - Proverbs 13:24 - nkjv).
5.       Boundary-based discipline (This focuses on setting limits and making the rules clear up front).

SCRIPTURAL GUIDE FOR CHILD’S DISCIPLINE

• Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid (Proverbs 12:1).

• When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food (Prov. 23:1-3).

• Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell (Proverbs 23:13-14).

• He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue. (Prov. 28:23).

Lastly, as parents, we must understand that:

• Any act of discipline without love is equal to torturing, persecuting, brutalizing and mistreatment.

• Do not discipline out of aggression from your spouse. It may lead to hatred.

• If you discipline a child and there is no result, switch to another one or seek a counsel from child’s counsellor.

• God loves all children. They must be managed for Him.