Proverbs 22: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.”

I will never forget the day I made a stance to discipline my child, and how the enemy came against me. I had been praying and reading the above passage, and even though I thought my daughter was adorable, I was beginning to understand the importance of discipline.

I was from a household where authority had been unjust at times and was afraid of doing the same thing. For that reason, I’d been a little paralyzed concerning discipline.

I was praying like this:

“Father, I know discipline is love, so please help me love my children your way, and discipline them when it’s necessary.”

I had just come out of the grocery store and was loading groceries into my trunk. My daughter, age 5, wanted to help, and went to grab the gallon jug of red juice out of the cart for me. I knew she was too young to successfully navigate the jug, so I said, “No honey, wait a minute.”

My plan was to let her unload something smaller, but she was not having it.

As I placed a bag in the trunk, she suddenly appeared with the jug, and slammed it down into the trunk in a moment of defiance. The jug was punctured by a metal object (Probably the jack), and juice went all over the trunk, onto the paper bags, and caused a lot of grocery chaos.

“I told you no!” I said in my loud mommy voice.

Within a fraction of a minute, a woman came out of nowhere and said,

“Ma’am, it’s not a big deal, you can go buy another bottle of juice.”

I wasn’t spanking her, but I was having a moment with her to reinforce what I said.

The woman continued to talk at me and even offered to buy more juice.

I remember for about a week after this incident, I struggled with whether I was too harsh. And why? Because the enemy sent someone to question my parenting, just when I had decided to follow the Lords’ ways. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to be sober and vigilant, as the enemy prowls around, looking for whom he can devour. And what is it he wants to devour most? (You ask?).

The seed of God’s word is his first target. If He can take that from you, your life will never be effective for Christ. I suggest reading Matthew 13, and the passage on seeds and sowing for further reference and contemplation, with the Holy Spirit at your side.

Here is food for thought: God’s ways are always going to go against the current of modern society.

Love you! In Him,

Laura Grace