Spare The Rod - Spoil The Child, Proverb 13:24

We love the gospel of grace when we come to God with our sins. None of us wants justice in the sense of God giving us what we deserve. But as much as we love His mercy when applied to us, we have a difficult time applying the same mercy to others. The Scriptures tells us that if we spare the rod, we will spoil the child, but many Christians forget God's grace while administering the child's punishment in our anger at them. The closer the relationship, the more betrayed and frustrated we feel. One needs to know that the messages we send our children while punishing them is one of discipline, not anger.

Be God's Representative To Your Children Proverb 22:6

We all learn from our parents, as do our children learn from us, as to how we should live our lives. It's just a matter of what example we as parents want our children to learn from. If parents live lives as we should, then we and our children will learn to live the same. If a parent cusses, cheats, do drugs, complains all the time, or never works. Well the chances are the children will do the same.

Throughout my life I have seen many who learned early that God is real, and Christ is the way to Him. Many like myself, fell away and lived a part of my life self indulging my own selfish desires. Eventually those who do as I did, will pay the price. It's just a matter of how far one goes down the wrong path before we cry for the One we know will save us. We know Who that one is, because of our early years when our parents taught us about Him. Then when we come home we are accepted as if we never left.

The Apostle John tells us in his Gospel that is Who God God is. A forgiving Father who gave His only Son so that we can be free from sin and condemnation.

Do Not Dishonor Your Parents -- Proverbs 30:17

Proverbs 30 is loaded with nuggets. One could write a whole book on the advice and wisdom packed in these 33 verses. Today I offer you Matthew Henry's take on verse 17. 

Those that despise to obey them, that think it a thing below them to be dutiful to their parents, especially to the mother, they scorn to be controlled by her; and thus she that bore them in sorrow in greater sorrow bears their manners.

What their doom will be. Those that dishonor their parents shall be set up as monuments of God’s vengeance; they shall be hanged in chains, as it were, for the birds of prey to pick out their eyes, those eyes with which they looked so scornfully on their good parents. The dead bodies of malefactors were not to hang all night, but before night the ravens would have picked out their eyes. If men do not punish undutiful children, God will, and will load those with the greatest infamy that conduct themselves haughtily towards their parents. Many who have come to an ignominious end have owned that the wicked courses that brought them to it began in a contempt of their parents’ authority.