Daily Devotional for Friday, August 12

Parental Chastening

In recent generations, a huge change has occurred in philosophies concerning child-rearing. You hear terms such as, self-actualization and self-esteem tossed around a lot. In some ways, these are not inherently and totally bad things. A person should be allowed to develop into who God created him to be. On the other hand, without some guidance and teaching, people tend to grow into personalities that are not productive members of society. The problem is the overblown focus on self. You seem to live in a time where individuals seem to think that anything is okay, as long as it fulfills his needs, and his concept of self. Selfishness, callousness to the needs of others and outright lack of empathy is the norm. You can see the result of that, and it displeases you; it even displeases those who thought it was a good idea in the first place! That is why a father who truly loves his children will teach, correct and even chastise his children. This is a difficult thing; parenting is tough. It takes a lot of love to endure the difficult task of leading children. Chastising them is often the hardest part. 

It is a wonderful blessing that your Heavenly Father’s love is perfect, and His strength unlimited. He wants the same from His children that you should want from yours. He corrects you because He loves you; if He allows you do what is right in your own eyes, that is not love at all. 

JUST A THOUGHT: When you fail to teach and correct your children, you are just putting your own needs above theirs. True love is willing to endure the pain of correcting the ones you love.

Wally Fry