“Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.”
~ Proverbs 29:17
Hi James and Ellen,
How do you feel about discipline? What does discipline mean to you? Discipline can mean teach. To discipline can mean to train. To be disciplined does not necessarily mean to be punished. Are you being disciplined? Who do you think is the best person to discipline you? Do you think that your teacher would be the best person to discipline you? Do you think that David disciplined Solomon when Solomon was a kid? Solomon lived about 3000 years ago. What kind of kid to you think that Solomon was like when he was your age? What do you think that Solomon did for fun when he was a kid? Solomon’s dad – David, was a very good king. Do you think that Solomon’s dad was a really good dad? Your grandpaa does not know if David was a good or bad dad. David knew God personally. David wrote psalm songs to and about God. David killed enemy soldiers in battles. David accumulated a lot of wealth. David married more than one gal. When Solomon became as old as your dad, Solomon had become known for the proverbs, axioms or truisms that he said and were recorded. Your grandpaa does not know who collected Solomon’s proverbs, axioms or truisms. The proverbs, axioms or truisms of Solomon make up almost an entire book in the Bible. This book is known as the Proverbs Book. The Kings Books’ historian states that Solomon was responsible for saying at least 3000 proverbs, axioms or truisms. Do you think that Solomon always lived by the words that he said in the proverbs, axioms or truisms that he left behind when he died? Your grandpaa knows that it is easy to say one thing but to do another thing. Your grandpaa believes that many of Solomon’s proverbs, axioms or truisms are from the life lessons that Solomon experientially learned.
Your grandpaa believes that every guy, gal and kid must be disciplined in order for the guys, gals and kids to learn how to live on the planet that God allows guys, gals and kids to live on for a time. There are several chapters of proverbs, axioms or truisms near the end of the Proverbs Book that are a hodgepodge list of proverbs, axioms or truisms that Solomon said that were compiled and edited by some wise men or scribes. Proverbs 29 has one of these lists of an assortment of Solomon’s proverbs, axioms or truisms. This chapter has verses – as do other chapters in the Proverbs Book, that talk about fools, about anger, about wise men, about doing the right thing, about being aware of evil guys and gals AND about how to raise kids. One verse in this chapter talks about needing to use a rod or a stick to help a kid learn wisdom. Still another verse mentions how a kid will bring grief to his dad if all the kid does is use his dad’s money unwisely. Still another verse – verse 17, says, “Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.” What does this verse say about who the person is who is supposed to give discipline and who in this verse is supposed to receive discipline? Your grandpaa believes that this verse says that the person who is to discipline you is to be your dad. Ask your dad if he was disciplined when he was your age and if he says that he was disciplined, ask your dad who disciplined him. Ask your dad how he was disciplined.
Your grandpaa knows that a kid will accept discipline – if there is a punishment attached to the discipline. Your grandpaa knows that a kid will not do something or that a kid will do something if the kid – like you, knows that there will be a consequence for not doing or for doing what he or she is asked not to do or to do. When your grandmaa and grandpaa administrated the rural resident leadership training center in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez, your grandpaa made a list of rules for the training center grounds – which your grandpaa expected the guys, gals and kids at the rural resident leadership training center to obey. The grounds of the training center covered a quarter of a square block. Your grandpaa always wanted to have sixteen guys – eight guys in the first year’s class and eight guys in the second year’s class, studying at the resident training center. If a Centro de Capacitación student was married, the student was to bring his wife and his kids to the rural resident leadership training center to live with him as he studied. There were sometimes over thirty kids living on the rural resident leadership training center grounds. Your grandmaa and grandpaa lived on the same rural resident leadership training center grounds with all these kids. Your grandpaa liked to have gardens and plots of flowers in different places on the rural resident training center grounds. Your grandpaa made a rule that no kid could go into any of the gardens – which had lettuce, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, etc. nor could any kid for any reason go into any of the plots of flowers. Your grandmaa and grandpaa lived on the rural resident leadership training center grounds for over three years. Not one single time did your grandpaa find a kid in a garden or in a plot of flowers. Neither the gardens or the plots of flowers had fences around them to keep kids from going into these places. Why do you think that a kid never went into one of the gardens or plots of flowers at the rural resident training center? Your grandpaa had said in his rule about the gardens and the plots of flowers that if a kid went into a garden or into a plot of flowers, the kid’s dad would be the one who would be punished. The punishment that your grandpaa had for the dad of a kid who did something that he or she was not to do was to chop firewood. Your grandpaa had chopping firewood as the designated punishment. The dads at the rural resident leadership training center told their kids to never go into the gardens or the plots of flowers because . . . no kid wanted to see their dad punished for something that he or she did so . . . the kids did not go into the gardens or into the plots of flowers. How has your dad been disciplining you so that when you get older that you will be wise?
Proverbs 29 (232)