Stern but Fair

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). While often uncomfortable, correction is a necessary part of life. Laws are in place to correct us and parental discipline is present for the purpose of correction. These things are right and good when done correctly, and the only correct way to do them is with God’s perspective and prescription.

For a father, there is never a day when godly discipline isn’t present, first in his own relationship with his heavenly Father, and then in his relationships with his family. A father must be submitted to and guided by his Father before he can ever hope to correct others rightly. After this submission has been recognized and loving discipline has been received, only then can a man begin to see how to discipline in the way the Father does.

Many men know how to punish, but very few know how to discipline. That is because discipline is Word-centered and discipleship-focused. Any time your children are out of line and need to be led back to right order, the Bible should be the compass that leads back home. This means that when a child is lying, they should be told that lying is wrong because God says so, not firstly because mom and dad say so. When a child is mean to their siblings, love for brothers and sisters in Christ should be the aim, not rule-following. When a child disrespects their mother, honor and love for their God-given mother should be the focus, not the dad’s rage that his wife has been mistreated. This may seem trivial, but it makes all the difference because it shows the children, the mom, and even the father himself that the authority of his words is derived solely from the Word of God, and not merely the father’s brain.

Word-centered correction has far-reaching implications when understood properly. When a Christian boss must deal with an unruly employee, the gospel should be present, and the gospel is directly attached to the Spirit-empowered use of the Word of God. A politician who is writing laws should be using the Word of the one true and living God as the standard for moral good in society. Speeding is a neglect of loving your neighbor; murder is a direct attack on an image bearer of God; tax fraud is failure to render to Caesar that which is Caeser’s, and so and on and so forth. If men and women in leadership positions in society would recognize the evergreen truth of the Word of God, we would find ourselves in a dramatically different place.

All of this begins with men who are sold out to Jesus, who stand with both feet upon the Bible and unashamedly call out lies and falsehoods in love with God’s perfect standard. It begins with the sharp point of the Word cutting and correcting us, and goes on to enable us to lovingly correct others, leading them to repentance with gentleness, not arrogance and harshness. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).