Discipline your son while there is hope (Proverbs 19:18).

An average child begins to struggle with his identity and seek
his independence as he approaches the age of 12. The permissive
parent starts to panic when the child assumes his own identity
and starts pulling away. Fearing the worst, the parent becomes
authoritarian by tightening the screws of discipline and
restricting the child’s activities. A power struggle ensues with
predictable results. The child bolts and the parent calls for
advice.

The problem of the rebellious, stubborn, disobedient child was
easily resolved in the Old Testament: The child was stoned by the
men of the city (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Sometimes we wish
discipline were that simple! Yet this passage helps us understand
that even decent parents who try to be good disciplinarians
sometimes have stubborn and rebellious children. Why? Because you
aren’t the only influence in your child’s life. And by the time
he enters school you may no longer even be the predominant
influence. During the formative years from birth to five, you
have your greatest influence. Your most important task during
that period (especially around ages two and three) is to break
the child’s will without breaking his spirit. It is then that you
must establish boundaries of behavior that are progressively
expanded until the child is on his own.

As parents, we must help our children establish their
relationship with God so they know what it means to be a child of
God. Once they go off to school, you can’t go with them, but God
can and does. If we don’t help them establish their identity in
Christ, they will establish their identity in the world. If we
don’t give them an eternal purpose and meaning in life, they will
establish a temporal purpose and meaning.

This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ . It is written by Neil Anderson at
http://www.freedominchrist.com/ .