“Bottom-Warmer”

Friday, October 05, 2012

Is it possible to be a Christian and not spank your children?  Doesn't the Bible tell us that if we spare the rod, we hate our children?

 

Sincerely,
A-Rod

Dear A-Rod,

The verse you are referring to is Pr 13:24.  It is true that parents must discipline their children.  It is also true that the Bible has absolutely no problem whatsoever with spanking (Pr 22:15).  Spanking won’t kill your child, nor will it hurt their little psyches, no matter what today’s current psychological theorists might say (Pr 23:13).  So if you spank your children, you are making a perfectly sound Biblical choice.

However, your question didn’t deal with those who spank their kids; it dealt with those who don’t.  We wouldn’t use any of the previously cited verses to say that you must spank your child to discipline them.  Proverbs teaches general principles, not specific techniques.  If we use those verses for specific techniques, then we would have to say spanking with anything but a rod was unbiblical.  The principle of Proverbs is that children need discipline – sometimes firm discipline.  It is a parent’s job to train their child for the way that they should live (Pr 22:6).  Each individual parent must decide on the specific techniques needed to reach the goal of properly disciplining and training their children up in the Lord.

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