It’s Not About Smacking! Part 2

Well, here we go, part 2.

I think its important to note that as much as our children will need grace from both God and ourselves, we will need grace from them. We are not perfect, we will get it wrong, sometimes horribly. But I believe that so long as the driving force behind your actions is a Godly love for you child, a deep desire to see them grow into all that God has planned and to not let anything get in the way of seeing Gods plan for their lives unfold before them, even if it is themselves, then we will be able to correct any miscalculations in our course as parents.

My Dad didn’t hit us as children, or at least I can’t remember, but he had a look that stopped us dead. The mere thought or warning of this look made us behave, well it made me behave, I can’t speak for my brother. But, even that is not enough as it is an external motivator. We need to train our children to be internally motivated to what is right, so that even when everything around them is saying do this or do that, their default setting, their point of reference is an internal compass informed by what they have learnt.

It’s Not About Smacking! Part 1

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled “Stop naffhousing the kids!” I had some questions regarding where is correction dealt with in the bible, so here we go.

I have been reading a book by Larry Tomczak called God, the Rod and your child’s bod, and I have been greatly encouraged and stretched and educated and, and and and…

I believe in smacking, but have been enlightened and encouraged by the fact that, it’s not really about smacking at all, it’s about biblical correction in the context of a loving relationship between parent and child. All who see and have experienced “smacking” and have become resentful, angry, disillusioned, frustrated, hurt, abused etc, must understand that their experience is not biblical correction but being at the receiving end of someone who had authority over you, expressing their idea of correction, not in love, but in hurt, retaliation and anger.

So, let’s get into it. I have taken many of the ideas below from Larry’s book, so get hold of one!

Remember this:

“IT’S BETTER TO BUILD CHILDREN THAN TO REPAIR MEN!”

L. Tomczak

No matter the cost

So this week we had to take our son to the doctor and were able to add our little bit to the pharmaceutical company’s bottom line, good times!

I sat there in the pharmacy wondering how come these little bottles cost so much, why was the price so high, why couldn’t the medicine be cheaper, especially since it was for such a good cause, my son’s health.

But here’s the beautiful thing, at no time during my contemplations on the conspiracy that is the pricing of medicine did I even question whether my son was worth the cost.

Not a fibre in my being even twitched at the belief that there is no cost too high and no price not worth paying for the health of my son, I would pay anything to save him, even if the price was unfair. The fact is my desire to have him healthy, better, saved, overrides any question as to the cost. The reason being, LOVE!

God showed this in that he loved us so much that he gave us his only son, the cost, massive, too high? Perhaps, but no matter, if it meant his children were to be saved, then the price was worth paying!

A Father’s heart is found in this, even though the cost is to high, the price unworthy of payment, we pay!

The imbalance in the world today comes from the selfishness of Fathers who see the needs, hear the cries but choose not to pay the price!

Our Father paid the ultimate price without blinking! Shouldn’t we take His lead?