Proverbs - Correction is a Good Gift

Proverbs 23:13-14

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod,

 he shall not die.

Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

We love to give our children good things.  Here we learn that correction is something we should give them.  Withholding correction means that we see what needs to be said and done but choose not to do it.  This is wrong.  We might be tired or weary and not want to get up and deal with it, but we are warned to not do this.  Correction is something we can give our children no matter how much money we have.  God has asked us to correct our children and show them the way that they should go.  It is our job and it is our calling.  Here the King James Version uses the word ‘beat’.  This is not a license to beat our children according to the current use of such a word.  This just means that if we need to use a rod it won’t kill them.  A rod was used by shepherds to keep the sheep on the path.  It would be used to correct a sheep as he wandered off the path and just a gentle prod with the rod would steer them back on track.  If a sheep was stubborn and refused the gentle, a stronger prod and perhaps a strike would get that sheep back on the path and away from danger. A shepherd would be a fool to beat his sheep in a way that would damage them.  Ladies, seek the Lord for the rod you are to use and be sensitive to the degree in which it is to be exercised.  Is it a paddle, restriction or a loss of privilege?  No matter how much they act like they are dying, they will not if you are using a ‘rod’ as a means of correction not a release of your own frustration.  If you have done this, apologize and seek accountability.  If you are being lazy and withholding correction, apologize and seek accountability.  We must give our children the correction they need to get back on the path and stay there.