The Teenagers on the Train
Proverbs 29:17 Correct your children whenever they are wrong, then you will always be proud of them. They will never make you ashamed.
Disciplining children, these days, has become somewhat politically incorrect. And so kids left to run rampant end up growing up into pretty selfish and immature adults. Sad, but true.
Disciplining children is not easy. I’m not talking about lashing out in anger, I’m talking here about investing the emotional energy required over the long haul, to ensure that they learn important things like respect, submission to authority, kindness, thoughtfulness of others. It’s a huge investment, but one that pays huge dividends.
I was on a train recently into the city, when an elderly man – well into his eighties – got on at one of the stops. He had two walking sticks and he was very frail. Myself and another man went to stand up so that this elderly man could sit down. The thing I noticed though, were the three teenage girls who looked at the frail old man, and yet, completely ignored him.
Now, am I being a little old-fashioned, or should those teenagers have been the first to give up their seats rather than have someone with grey hair (like me) do it for them?
Proverbs 29:17 Correct your children whenever they are wrong, then you will always be proud of them. They will never make you ashamed.
It sounds rather old fashioned, doesn’t it? After all, our kids are so precious. And yet to help them shine, they need discipline and instruction. That’s hard work. It’s a grind. Some days it’s downright soul destroying. Believe you me … I know.
But what I also know is that as I see my three now as young adults, they are a delight to my heart. It seems that all that hard work – somehow, not sure how – eventually pays off.
Correct your children whenever they are wrong, then you will always be proud of them
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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