Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

Modern culture has made biblical discipline taboo. Even many Christians consider corporal punishment as some kind of sick leftover from the Dark Ages. Though the Bible is clear on the subject, most parents have ceded ground to the so-called experts who assert that physical discipline is not just ineffective but downright harmful. Moms and dads have been led to believe that any such discipline might warp their child’s personality and lead to mental illness.

This is simply one of the lies that have led to the detriment of the family. Two prominent false assumptions are propagated in modern psychology:

One is that a child’s misbehavior is primarily caused by external influences. This is a complete denial of the sinful nature that is in every human heart due to the fall. Jesus taught that bad behavior springs from a corrupt heart (see Mark 7:21-23).

The second false assumption is that rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior fails to address a child’s inner feelings. Here the so-called experts would tell you that reward and punishment is an outdated mode of traditional parenting that has been effectively discredited. What’s interesting to me is that God himself consistently used this mode with Israel in the Old Testament. The writer of Hebrews believed God continues to deal with His children this way (see Hebrews 12:5-9).

It all comes down to who you’re willing to believe, God or the experts. As Christians, we should hold to the conviction that corporal discipline actually prepares a child’s heart to receive the gospel. What better way to help your child understand that Jesus on the cross bore the punishment that we all deserve? In fact, the Bible’s word for discipline entails the concept of punishment. As in, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

Biblical discipline is administered in love and for the good of the child. There are many solid resources to help you in bringing your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, but I recommend just two here: Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp and Dare to Discipline by James Dobson.