Jesus said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev 3:19).

The Blessing of Discipline

Proverb 29:17, “Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.” (cf. 3:1, 12:1, 13:1, 15:5)

Proverb 20:7, “The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.”

Discipline by Spanking

Proverb 13:24, “He who spares his branch hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”

Proverb 22:15, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The branch of correction will drive it far from him.”

Proverb 23:13-14, “Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you strike him with a branch, he will not die. You shall strike him with a branch, And deliver his soul from sheol [death].”

Proverb 29:15, “The branch and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”

Limits to Discipline

Proverb 19:18, “Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction.”

Ephesians 6:4, “And fathers provoke not your children, but nourish them in the parenting and admonition of the Lord.” (Gal. 4:1-2)

Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, that they not become discouraged.”

The Discipline of the Heavenly Father

Hebrews 12:5-11, “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges [whips] every son whom He receives.‘ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (emp. added).

The Blessing of Children

Psalm 127:3-5, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”