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Punishment

Our beginnings is an extremely important life journey. It carries within us the seeds of love, hate, indifferent, rejection or acceptance. Our minds are preciously and innocent as we are growing up.  As very young we have no understanding of what is right or wrong. It is a journey of discovery taught to us by our parents, other people or institutions in charge of our care.

In the process of growing up those people in charge of our care represent to us the world. Parents are everything to a child. They can be the source of love and acceptance, indifference, rejection, unpredictability, terror, neglect and many powerful things. Children can feel protected, loved, well housed and fed and their emotion all needs well guarded. This child will turned out at times sound and healthy unless he/she decided to do evil.

In other cases, the outcome will be different in the parent-child relationship world if there is physical, mental and emotional abuse. The abused child can feel alone, unloved, rejected, hurt and neglected. It will create a state of anxiety, fear, anger, sadness and a lot of disturbing emotional and physical behaviors. The same will happen within a child forced to be with unpredictable parents. When the child doesn't know when and why he/she will be severely punished. Fear can become deeply ingrain in the subconscious of these unfortunate children. This will affect the way the react to different events and situations through life in any kind of relationships.

Here is were we get into trouble with acceptance of God's forgiveness for our transgressions. To believe that a godly man died for us to set us free from the negative power of sin is very hard to believe or accept.  In other cases acceptance of God's forgiveness is expected and seeing not as a necessity.

Bible: Scripture: Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." According to the Bible we are to train a child up. Parents must train their children grow up into a mature human being.
Deuteronomy 6: He says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thine children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way and when thou sittest down and when thou liest down and when thou riseth up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house and on thy gates."
Meaning we as parents are to have the love of God in our hearts. Our children have to be taught to obey and respect God, their parents and authority. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thine children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way and when thou sittest down and when thou liest down and when thou riseth up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Thou shalt write them upon the posts of the  house and on thy gates."

We are experiencing today what happens when we do not punish. instruct and guide our children to love and respect God, parents, authority and even country. In the foundation of all society disobedience lies at the root of every evil deed.
20:12, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God girth thee."

"Parents should administer punishment to their children when they misbehave. But punishment should be administer with love and comprehension of the child's physical and mental health. Punishment is retribution for disobedience or a wrong act. Is not meant to destroy, corrupt, assault the physical and mental well being of a child but to teach consequences of ill behavior.

Bible:. Proverbs 19:18, "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." We are to chasten a son while there is hope; while he is young he must learn to obey and learn that disobedience brings punishment.
I think something is amiss in the language translation and or interpretation.  Either that verse has not been correctly understood or it has been used to exact unauthorized severely beatings on a defenseless child and blame God and the Bible for it. This verse is not instructing a parent to beat his child unmercifully. That is not what it is talking about. It is saying that correction and punishment has its place in rearing children and teaching them to obey.

If a child is never corrected he/she can determine that parents don't care what they do. Caring is equal with love and concern. Some young people have been heard saying, "Our parents don't care what we do". Therefore, they don't respect them or the law authorities either.

We need to understand the balance between love and discipline and consistency. When a child errs we do not strike in anger. We explain it as calmly as we can.

Posted by airsjc on 2009-04-22 08:42:38 | Rating:

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Hi Friend!
I really enjoy this post! It shows us how God considers the precious life of our children, and makes the way to help them to be known in his word.
I just finished 15,000 words of comments on my blog- "An Urgent Message", which also contains words about God's loving care for us as an example that we should follow, because it is in the keeping of his teachings, that results in the goodness of life!

It caught my attention when you wrote about "...translation and or interpretation".
I believe this: (bear with this for a moment as I'm building up to it):

1. God wants us to know one thing above everything else. He want us to know who His Child (Son) is. As Believers in the Lord, this should be our very first priority above everything else. It sounds crazy to those who want to know the logic of this.
(there are even Christains who believe God gave us a priority by providing us with family. That's incorrect though; having a place in God's will, it isn't neglected).
If all the books in the world cannot contain the learning of him, then we definately have not arrived to the fullness of the knowledge of who he is.

2. When the 1st testament (agreement of God with Israel) was valid as also very conditional, that says, those who abide within it by obeying it, they should live; and not to die, which was the punishment for disobedience to God, the Righteous Judge. Sin had the word "death" pinned to it because of the law of God.
All of Isreal, in times of godliness in Jerusalem, understood that all things in the law of Moses was to be obeyed.
This included the execution of all of those who sinned a sin that was worthy of death, as written in the law of Moses (law of God).

3. The children were well aware of this (by a certain age in life of course).
They were to be taught that sin will not be tolerated, and will be judged by God.
It's not hard to imagine how the seriousness of the law was projected to the people.
I think if I and my children had to abide in that law, I would be fearful of them even playing in the street, because if they go past my set boundry, then they could possibly go astray in life. I'm sure if I lived in those times as a Jew, I would run out there and drag drag them by the ears, threatening them with severe judgements with a rod my hand! I would seriously be thinking, "My kids have disobeyed one of God's 10 commandments, because they didn't obey their parent"!

I would not hezitate to make ready a sacrafice acceptable to God, so that my children would not be put to death or die in their sleep this night!!!

4. Punishment is a word that is mis-interpeted (my belief). Punishment is what God will perform at the Great White Judement Day. It is FINAL!! Mercy isnt then offered.
Punishment is as when Isreal did as commanded by God, in putting those to death who broke any of God's commandments that required the death of law-breaker in question.

The word "punishment" found in Proverbs 19:18 may actually be the correct translation here. The idea was to scare your kids away from all disobedience.
You would do that by telling them, "If you disobey, you will DIE"!!!

5. I believe the proverb is a warning to the parents, that if you don't chastise your children in the little things, they will grow up in disobedient lifestyle.
If this happens, their punishment will be inevideble; for it is written.

6. The New Testament (God's 2nd agreement with Israel) changes this type of "training up a child" somewhat. This is because the message of God is no longer spoken as the previous conditions of required obedience to the law of God to have blessing of the right to life.

So we are now under the agreement that says, "I will write my laws in your heart".
So if this is God's New Testament to His people, Then do we have to go back to the old testament and try to apply ourselves to repeticiously say all the laws to ourselves so that they get in our heart? No, that would not be God writting His laws in our heart.
So do we take our children back to the law after we've acknowledged the Son of God?
No, of course not. Do we scare the living daylights out of them by telling them that God will punish them with death or with leporsey as punishment appropriate?

Well, we know better than that.
So we teach them about Jesus Christ, and tell them to always love God and love others as they love theirselves.
People forget that the fulfilling "love" command of Jesus is not
outside of the law. In fact the 1st of it is the #1 of the 10 commandments.
That means that it can't secure the blessing of life by obeying it.
We can't make believers by preaching law.

7. God fulfills is law in us by living in us. We DON'T & CAN'T know love outside of this work done solely by God!
Which one of those children who came up to Jesus was told to obey or die? Yes, none.

Do we warn them that they will die by the priest of Isreal? How? It's dismantled.
(Sorry, next comment please) thanx

Posted by tarabbac1 on 2009-04-22 22:42:56

Hello tara: Thank you for your very nice comments. You know your Bible verses are to the point. God does not full around with double meanings or double talks. You are correct in your thoughts and interpretations. How sad that people read the Bible and pick verses to justify their actions. When it comes to children's punishment I am sure God is not sugesting that a child should be beaten to a pulp or mistreated. In the Bible you find some passages where children wanted to be near Jesus and they were been driven away by people but Jesus stopped it by saying, "Let the children come to me for their is the kingdom of God". Jesus was loving and tender with the little ones.

I have made my share of mistakes correcting and applying punishment to my children
when they had it coming. I asked them and I asked God to forgive me. I was repeating what I was taught as a child. Now I know better. I have to remember and go over and read your blogs. Thanks for the sharing.

Posted by airsjc on 2009-04-25 08:21:34