Discipline and teach your son while there is hope, And do not [indulge your anger or resentment by imposing inappropriate punishment nor] desire his destruction. Proverbs 19:18 AMP (Amplified Bible).
Discipline means “training that corrects, molds or perfects the mental faculties or moral character” in our girls and boys (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). All of us are directed by Christ to discipline and teach our children, i.e., “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16 KJV).
To teach means “to accustom to some action or attitude <teach students to think for themselves> or “to instruct by precept (or canon), example, or experience” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
There are times when as parents, we are not at a point in our lives to discipline or teach our children as we ought. But through God’s love, intervention, mediation, and forgiveness to us all by faith and hope we must have hope or an expectation that our children will turn their lives around to live positive and morally good lives in Christ from His example. We can ask God for “wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice and judgment, and equity” for our parenting (Proverbs 1:2-3 KJV), and the hope in Christ that even when our children fall, our children will ascend to heaven as He deeply understands our children’s pain and suffering here on earth.
So “while there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18 AMP, Amplified Bible) or our expectation for the blessing of God in our children, let us be Christ-like for our children and everyone, having the mind of Christ and following His teachings in all that we do.
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.