Proverbs: 29:15,17 “15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother. 17 Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.”

OUT OF CONTROL

How many times have you seen it? Little Gertrude or Elrod are in the shopping cart in the check out line with Mom. They see candy in that rack by the register (I think the people who set those up right there are spawns of Satan tempting all of us, lol) and they start pitching a fit to have that piece of candy. Mom gives in to calm the child and bam – the child has gotten his/her way. Chalk one up for Junior.

This verse is even stronger than it seems at first glance. The word “rod” can be translated as club or staff. In other words, spanking is not a problem. Reproof and correction is honored. Children who get their own way bring shame to their parents. But when they are corrected it says that bring comfort to their parents’ soul. I just love that picture.

TEACHING MOMENT

How are you disciplining your child? Are you letting them “get by” with stuff because they are just so darned cute? Are you jumping through hoops to keep them happy? Are they controlling the household by their fits? I have seen that way too many times. I’ve seen parents stay up until the child decided to fall asleep at 1 or 2 in the morning. Never mind that Mom or Dad has to get up to go to work at 6 a.m. As long as Junior is happy! Right!

Don’t take this as my advice. This is right from God’s Word. He is our heavenly Father and only wants what is best for His children, including your children. Trust Him to direct you to discipline your children according to His Word. Let His Word guide you as you discover what works best for your child. But whatever you do, be the adult. Set the rules. Establish the guidelines in your home that God would want you to have. In that you please Him.

I Timothy 2:9-10 “9Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

DRESS CODE

Call me prudish, but it seems modesty has gone the way of the horse drawn wagon. I am constantly amazed at even the “church going” ladies who dress in away that is immodest and alluring. Please hear me out. I am not calling for high-collared, ankle length dresses. But I do wish women and young ladies would stop and take a look at the mirror before they leave the house.

The Greek word for “modesty” in verse 9 is only used here in the New Testament. It can be translated as “sense of shame,” but really means to prevent a shameful act. Isn’t that interesting. We should encourage godly women to dress in such a way to prevent a shameful act. Now that gives a clearer picture of what Paul is saying here.

TEACHING MOMENT

Moms and Dads, how do you dress your children? Do you dress them modestly when they are young? Of course you do. So why in the world would allow them when they get older to not follow those same standards? All around us we see images of men and women dressing in provocative clothing. The world bombards us with sexual images while advertising clothing. Modesty plays NO PART in today’s clothing advertisements.

May I encourage you today to take that second look in the mirror before you go out the door? Will you monitor your child’s appearance before they leave the house? Ask yourself if the Lord would be pleased in the way you are dressed today.

Everything we do should point others to Christ.

We way we dress and present ourselves is included. If anything we wear (or should I say not wear) causes someone else to stumble, we need to change our wardrobe. God will be honored in our choices, I am sure.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

SWEETNESS

I think we all know this verse. Even a lot of unbelievers have heard this verse. We claim this verse when we see Christian parents’ children starting to go astray. We know that the Word we have planted in their hearts will not…what? Come back void or empty.

But this word translated as “train” has an interesting meaning. It was a word used to describe teaching a newborn to initiate the sucking motion. They would rub chewed dates on the palate (roof) of the mouth. The baby would then put his tongue on the palate to get the sweet date flavor, thus imitating the position that the tongue needed to be in to nurse. Of course, this was necessary for survival. If a baby couldn’t nurse, they would die.

TEACHING MOMENT

How much more appropriate is it for us to teach our children spiritual survival skills. They may survive physically without God’s principles, but they will die spiritually. What parent wants to envision their child doing that? None. We all want our children to come to know Christ and grow in knowledge of Him.

So, what are you “rubbing on the palate” of your children? Are you rubbing sour lemons through your demeanor and attitude? Are you rubbing the sweet flavor of Christ that draws them to you and Him? Do you tell them to do what you say without living it yourself? Our children will want to “nurse” on the sweetness of God’s Word if we show them how good it tastes and how much it does for us. We must continue to feed ourselves as we are encouraging them to feed also.

I believe if we are faithful to live it AND preach it to our children, if and when they do stray, they will not be able to escape the drawing power of God. He will woo them home. They will recognize that voice. They will remember the sweet flavor of His Word on their palate. How sweet it is!

2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”

FIRST JOBS

My dad taught me the value of work. I began working young. My brother and I had a lawn mowing business. My dad built a small little trailer that we pulled behind our Cub Cadet lawnmower. We would put our push mower and gas can in that trailer and off we would go. Of course, my big brother got to drive the Cub Cadet. I would follow along on my bike. Later I worked with my cousin or uncle in the tobacco fields of South Georgia working all day (daylight to dusk) harvesting the fields. I think I made $10 a day to begin. And then later when I got old enough (14 or so) I got my first job at a business, washing cars and changing oil at a gas station.

Those jobs taught me the value of hard work, and I earned enough money to buy my first car with cash. Now all we hear is how we need to raise the minimum wage, and we see people demanding free stuff from the government. You are probably saying about right now, “Carl, I thought this was a devotional, not a diatribe on the economy.” Lol.  You’re right. But look at the verse again. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that we should all work and not rely on others to provide for us. Read that verse in context and you will get an even clearer picture of his admonition.

TEACHING MOMENT

Teaching your children God’s Word means teaching them all of God’s Word. Your children need to learn the value of work. They need to learn what hard work is. They need to earn their own money so they can appreciate it when they go to the store and see the price of that toy or video game they want so bad. Simply handing over the “dough” to them every time they ask will teach them a very bad habit.

It’s okay for your child to go without sometimes. Now I am NOT saying to not feed them. That is not what Paul is saying either. But I am saying teach them the honor of work. They will appreciate what you do give them much more when they do.

Proverbs 21:15 “The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, But is terror to the workers of iniquity.”

COURTROOM

When I hear the word “justice” I immediately think of a courtroom. It is there that justice in the legal system is supposed to come down. Those who have done no wrong (the righteous) do not fear the outcome. But those who are guilty (the workers of iniquity) are scared to death. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. Sometimes our court system makes a mistake and an innocent person is found guilty or a guilty person is found innocent. This is NOT the case, however, in God’s courtroom.

In God’s courtroom we are all guilty – until we discover the One who can absolve our guilt. Jesus steps in and says, “Yes Judge, they are guilty, but I am taking their punishment. I will be declared guilty in their place.” Wow!

TEACHING MOMENT

Have you “caught” your child in the commission of a crime? You know what I mean. They deliberately lied to you. Or they hit their little sister or brother. Or they stole something from school. There is NO doubt they are guilty. Why not use this opportunity to model Jesus to them. Explain to them that you know they are guilty. Describe to them the discipline they deserve. But instead of dishing out the discipline, forgive them. Better yet, take their discipline for them.

Now, I know what you are thinking. “Carl, my child would love that, and they would expect that every time.” I know that. You can’t do this every time and you can’t do it with every child. But the Holy Spirit will tell you when it is appropriate to use this illustration. What a great way for them to get a glimpse of what the Savior has done and continues to for them.

Everyday I know I deserve to be terrorized by the idea of justice, but because all my guilt has been taken away, I can live in joy knowing that I have been declared righteous. How about you?

2 Thessalonians 2:2 “that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

NOT MY FRIEND

If you are on any Social Media site long enough, you will get a friend request from someone you know that is not really from them. Without their knowledge, their site has been hacked by someone and now these culprits are trying to gain access to all their friends in order to get personal information or just reek havoc. That happened to me last week. I got a friend request from someone I knew was already my friend. So, what did I do? I deleted the friend request. I knew it was not my friend.

Paul was dealing with people who were trying to fool the Thessalonians by saying they were bringing a message from Paul himself. They were trying to confuse these young believers and get them to believe things which Paul would never say or teach.

Who are you listening to? Are you checking out the source of your information? Are you just believing everything you hear from your Pastor or church leaders? Don’t hear me wrong. We must respect those in authority. But we must be diligent to check anything by God’s Word. Don’t fall for that “false friend request.” Don’t just believe something because someone said it. We are all fallible. No one is perfect. Only Christ was able to live a perfect human life.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children need to know how to discern falsehoods. They are going to be bombarded with false messages from the world. The devil will use friends, teachers and others to confuse your child and direct their attention away from the truth. The only way we can protect them from these falsehoods is to ground them in the truth – God’s Word. They must know it so they can recognize what is not of it.

How are you doing with this? Are you spending time with your kids in the Word? Are you memorizing scripture with them? Are you speaking truth into them every day. Be mindful of the false messages they are hearing and quickly correct them. We can’t waste one day to teach them the truth. Be watchful. Be diligent. And trust the Lord to guide.

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

NO SHAME

Why is it in America right now that it seems the more hideous the sin, the more we exalt it? We call people “brave” for stepping out of the closet. We applaud someone’s “right” to blatantly disregard the truth of God’s Word. We fight to “protect” the woman’s choice to kill her child. “Wow Carl, you sure are being harsh today.” I guess this does sound harsh, but in light of the fleeting days until Christ’s return, I feel the urgency to be a voice crying in the wilderness.

All through history we see the downfall of nations was preceded by moral decay. I can’t imagine a nation more morally corrupt than America’s right now. Many of our churches are embracing the LGBT lifestyle as just an alternative to the God ordained marriage between one man and one woman. It seems we are welcoming in, not just whatever someone believes to be true, but we are actually inviting our own destruction.

TEACHING MOMENT

How do we protect our children from this hostile environment? There is only one way. We teach them that there is only ONE truth, and that is God’s Truth. The Word of God is the ONLY source they can rely on each and every day of their life. We must help them to learn Scripture and hide it in their hearts. The day may come when, even in America, the Bible is banned or confiscated. You say, “Come on, Carl. That would never happen.” Well, I am sure our Founding Fathers never imagined an America where we would legally kill our unborn children or openly celebrate a man for becoming a woman.

Will you commit yourself to train your child fully in God’s Word? Will you be a bold witness of the truth, no matter the cost? Will you stand for what God says is right and wrong? Will you confess your own sin of compromise? We must take a stand for something or we will stand for nothing.

I Thessalonians 5:16 “Brethren, pray for us.”

PRAYER LISTS

I have a daily, weekly and monthly prayer list. I pray for family, friends, missionaries and other special requests. I truly count it a privilege to pray for these on my prayer lists. Paul was asking the Thessalonians to pray for him and his ministry partners. They were constantly in danger of death or injury. He knew he needed to be wrapped in prayer.

How about you? Who are you praying for? Do you pray only for your family? Do you pray for your children daily? Do you pray for their friends or future spouse? Make a list and, just like Santa Claus (lol), check it twice.

TEACHING MOMENT

Why not get with your kids and make a list of all the people they want to pray for? Get ready. The list could be long. And then divide that list into bite size groups. Get emails for those people, if possible, and let them know you have prayed for them. I promise they will be blessed by that. And your children will grow up seeing the power of prayer in their lives and in the lives of others.

There is a man in our church who prays for me daily. He started this several years ago when I went through a major health scare. He reminds me just about every Sunday by saying, “Every day!” That always warms my heart. Knowing you are being prayed for encourages you to press on.

If Paul, one of the chief architects of Scripture, wasn’t too proud to ask for prayer, neither should we. Tell others your requests. Let them know your struggles. Ask them to pray for wisdom and discernment for you. Ask them to pray that you will seek God’s will. And when someone asks you to pray for them, do it right then. Let your children see you do that. They will learn that prayer is good anytime and anywhere.

Proverbs 9:8 “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”

HOW DARE YOU!

As a Children’s Pastor I get to see firsthand how children respond to correction. Some accept it and change their behavior. Others simply ignore you, and finally some question your right to correct them. It is to this third one I want to focus on today.

With today’s verse in mind, as parents, we must reprove those we love, but we must do it in love. I am not saying that every child is a “scoffer.” But direct disobedience is, in a sense, scoffing at authority. I have had children, when corrected, look at me and say, “You’re not my parent!” My first thought (notice I say thought and not reply) is “And I am so glad.” HaHa.

Seriously though, we see way too much of this attitude today, even in our churches. There seems to be more and more direct disrespect for those in authority. Why are our children behaving this way? In many cases, they learn it from us. Ouch, that hurt.

TEACHING MOMENT

How do you teach your children to receive reproof? By being reprovable (Is that a word? If not, I just made it up.) yourself. A scoffer (one who laughs or ignores truth) will not receive correction. They get mad if you even mention their sin. But a wise person accepts correction and makes the necessary confession to the Lord. Are you demonstrating that for your children? Are you teachable? Are you correctable?

My flesh hates correction. I want to do what I want when I want. How dare you point out my waywardness. Who do you think you are? But the Spirit of the Lord in me convicts me and makes me absolutely miserable until I make things right with the Lord and others. Correction can be embarrassing, true. But not receiving correction is outright dangerous.

Will you be the one to bow before all the authorities that the Lord has placed over you? Little ones are watching to see how you respond. Be the example of obedience they need.

I Thessalonians 3:12 “and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;”

WISHING

Can I get a little technical with you? You need to see this. The two verbs, “increase” and “abound” are in the optative mood. What that does is express a wish. Paul is making a wish, not that the Lord would give you His love, but that you would increase and abound in love. Paul knew that the Lord would give you all the love you need to share with others. There’s an unlimited supply. You just have to let the Lord fill you with it.

Have your kids ever made a wish for something? Sure they have. Every birthday they make a wish before they blow out the candles, right? They make a wish list for Christmas. As their parent you pretty much know what they are going to wish for, don’t you? And most of the time you already have that wish item waiting for them, don’t you? Now if you are able to “foresee” your child’s wish, don’t you think the Lord knows what you need BEFORE you even know it?

TEACHING MOMENT

Use this verse today to show your kids how the Lord wants to give them what they need to love others. All they have to do is ask. Tell them that you may not be able to always give them everything they ask for, but the Lord will always bless them with the love they need. Then they can share His love for others.

Who do you need to love today? Guess what? You can’t do it! But the Lord can through you. He can cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all the people. Will you let Him? Will you reach out to that unlovable person in your life? Will you let Him love them through you? He wants to use you to love them.