Part 3: Judgment

Do not despise the LORD’s instruction, my son,

and do not loathe His discipline;

for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,

just as a father, the son he delights in.

Proverbs 3:11-12

Although every situation is unique, there is nothing new under the sun…including sin. The human heart today is still desirous of the same things it was when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. Likewise, though there are unique circumstances and unique people, absolute truth does exist in the words of Scripture. Where the world often muddies the water, the Christian can defer to the Word of God to light his or her path.

Secular parenting has more of a live-and-let-live philosophy. Kids are nothing more than blank slates, and imposing our constructed morals onto them is limiting to their freedom. But the truth is that we are all born with sin and into a sinful world, and opposite of freeing us, that sin is the ultimate bondage. The answer is not to permit or excuse defiance, seeing it as merely a developmental phase that will pass, but it is to show them that their acts of sin must be answered with a judgment and a consequence. We must actively train and form our children into people who seek and honor God because left to our own devices, it will not happen. (How near to home do those words strike us today: “Everyone did as he saw fit…”?)

While God leaves room for parents to make their own disciplinary decisions, we can see some themes of God’s throughout Scripture. First, He is slow to anger: “The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished…” (Numbers 14:18). Throughout the Old Testament, God always entreated His people directly or through the prophets before carrying out judgment. Further, in the New Testament, Jesus confronted people with their sin by first asking questions. Second, His punishment always fits the crime: “Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you” (Jeremiah 2:19). Third, He always makes a way back to right relationship: “Let the wicked one abandon his way / and the sinful one his thoughts; / let him return to the Lord, / so He may have compassion on him, / and to our God, for He will freely forgive” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

1. What is your discipline strategy like? How do you (or don’t you) try to model it after our Heavenly Father’s discipline?
2. Why is it important to lead with questions and seeking to understand, as Christ did?
3. What are some examples of the punishment fitting the crime?
4. How do you, or could you, offer a path back to right standing for your kids after they mess up?