Raising children in a way that honors God is a vital responsibility for Christian parents. The book of Proverbs offers practical wisdom, urging parents to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6) and not to withhold discipline, as it is an act of love that helps children develop wisdom. In Deuteronomy, parents are instructed to impress God's commandments on their children's hearts, teaching them diligently throughout the day. The apostle Paul also exhorts fathers in Ephesians to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, while Proverbs emphasizes the importance of physical discipline, such as in Proverbs 23:13-14, and warns against failing to discipline, as seen in Proverbs 13:24.
Relevance Score
46%
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.
He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live? Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will bring delight to your soul.