31 Day Challenge - Day 19

"Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives" (Proverbs 19:18). This particular verse in Proverbs 19 does not use the word wisdom or wise and yet we know that it is a verse of wisdom for parents. Children can become too old or too spoiled, to receive a word from their parents. They can begin to do what seems right in their own eyes. God gives us parents an opportunity to speak into our children's lives from the time of birth to around age of 18. Sometimes we get more time, sometimes we get less. But it's important that we take advantage of that opportunity. We must take our parental responsibility seriously. It could one day be a matter of life and death some day.

At times, God could give us an additional opportunity or extended time with our children, but that doesn't take the place of the original time we are given to "bring up a child in the way that they should go".

If you feel like you've missed your time, pray and ask God for His wisdom and guidance. There is nothing impossible for our Lord! He can provide that discipline for our children that we weren't able to give through us or others. He can provide opportunities and situations for growth. But, if we have an opportunity to guide them while they are young, that's the best situation for everyone concerned.

The Lord shows us through the Proverbs what happens when our children don't get this discipline or if the discipling we offer doesn't take root. We read "a foolish child is a calamity to a father" (19:13), or, "Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace" (19:26). We read that when a child stops listening to instruction, he will turn his back on knowledge" (19:28). It doesn't have to be a terminal situation, but it will most likely be painful for both you and your child.

What we can take away from this is to use wisdom and take the time to discipline our children while there is hope. God will forgive and He will forget the sin, but the law of consequences don't have to be as kind!