Proverbs 13:24
“He that spares his rod hates his son:
He who loves him will teach him until his season of discipline is done.”
Raising children is just like tending a garden. It takes a lot of dedication and constant attention. If people aren’t willing to give that attention, they probably should not attempt to have children, or for that matter, even let marriage be a consideration for their lives. Because marriage is about family, and family is about propagating love, character, personality, and prosperity through our children to further generations.
Children need constant pruning, weed pulling, and shaping. Children are not tomato plants that grow a little while and then die off. They are potential trees that have long lives, and the fruit that they produce is perpetual. Even if a small tender sapling is growing crooked from its root, it can be bent in whichever direction it needs to grow, as long as it is small and very young. However, when a sapling begins to mature into a tree it becomes more difficult to bend and shape. When it is a full grown mature tree it is impossible to bend without completely breaking the tree. In simple terms that is what discipline is. It is shaping a life in the direction it should grow through love, both tender and strong.
Pastor LaVaughn
