Proverb for the week of: July 28

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother (Prov. 29:15). The state now dictates how a child can be disciplined even at home. However many do not know it but in many states in the U.S. reasonable corporal punishment is still allowed. In Texas permission is given to properly spank your child as long as it is not excessive. But again, many younger parents do not know this. They are reluctant to spank because in the state government school systems they are told that spanking will ruin the little crumb snatcher's self-esteem! This is of course true, and that is what spanking is for—to humble the child under a higher authority, i.e. the authority and wishes of the parent. Notice that in this proverb shame comes upon the mother if the child is always delinquent and getting his own way. The Bible teaches that children come into the world as sinners and must be controlled by discipline. Secular psychology in the state schools says the opposite. The government school teachers I know say they cannot even lay their hands on a child who is rebelling or even fighting with another child. This is molding a new breed and generation that will be the citizens of the apostasy that is coming upon the world. There is no sin and there is no right and wrong. What is right for you is what is right! The schools can no longer teach morality and character. They can not even come close to referring to the God of the Bible. This was all planned many decades ago when the secularists began working their plan to remove the Word of God from the minds of our children. One Godless atheist said, "Well, Johnny may not be able to read because of poor teaching in the schools but he certainly is not believing in the mythology that comes from the Bible!" Lawson writes, "The rod of correction is of no use without the concurrence of God. Men are naturally corrupt, and those who are left to follow the propensities of nature will be a grief to their fathers, and bring their mothers to shame." The Rabbis note that in the Hebrew the passage is referring to "a child let go, to run wild and unchecked. The rod of reproof refers to both corporal punishment and verbal admonition (13:24)." Waltke adds that "wisdom protects the mother from blushing embarrassment, and a child whose parents let him run wild does not learn to conform to the divinely established moral order." Many Yuppy and Generation Y Christian parents are conforming their thinking to the culture. Many can be over protective. I saw one parent sit outside the Sunday school class door. She would jump up and run in the classroom if she heard her little spoiled kid cry! She trusted no one but herself in disciplining her little sinner! In my opinion, we are in deep trouble! Dr. Mal Couch