#  402  07/09/07  Discipline is painful for parents, too.

Last week, I wrote about the importance of consistency in discipline.  That is easy for me to say.  My children are all grown.  I only need to be consistent in discipline for short periods of time when I keep my grandchildren.

I would be remiss if I did not confess that consistency was difficult for me when I was parenting my children.  Not only is it difficult to be consistent, it is painful to administer discipline.  As a child, I thought my parents were joking when they said, “This hurts me as much as it does you.”  (They used that little disclaimer with physical punishment as well as the more painful loss of privileges.)  But, it is true.  It does hurt a parent to be a disciplinarian.

There is a wonderful explanation of the importance of discipline in the Book of Hebrews.  “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!” Hebrews 12:7-9.

This Scripture is saying that God disciplines us because he loves us as his children.  It also makes the point that we respect our parents for disciplining us and feel secure in the child-parent relationship because of that discipline.  My stepdaughter told me many years after the incident that she knew I loved her like a daughter the day I disciplined her in the same way as I did my own two children.

Discipline, and the consistency that it requires, is difficult for both parent and child.  Making the commitment despite the pain is easier if we remember the rewards.  “Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.”  Proverbs 29:17.  “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11.

Do this for your child.  He will thank you…someday.