• Train Your Child From Infancy
    The Secret of Family Happiness
  • Train Your Child From Infancy
    The Secret of Family Happiness

    • THE VITAL NEED OF DISCIPLINE

      20. What is discipline, and how should it be applied?

      20 Discipline is training that corrects the mind and heart. Children need it constantly. Paul counsels fathers to “go on bringing [their children] up in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.” (Ephesians 6:4) Parents should discipline in love, just as Jehovah does. (Hebrews 12:4-11) Discipline based on love can be conveyed by reasoning. Hence, we are told to “listen to discipline.” (Proverbs 8:33) How should discipline be given?

      21. What principles should parents bear in mind when disciplining their children?

      21 Some parents think that disciplining their children involves merely speaking to them in threatening tones, scolding them, or even insulting them. However, on the same subject, Paul cautions: “You, fathers, do not be irritating your children.” (Ephesians 6:4) All Christians are urged to be “gentle toward all . . . instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed.” (2 Timothy 2:24, 25) Christian parents, while recognizing the need for firmness, try to keep these words in mind when disciplining their children. At times, though, reasoning is insufficient, and some kind of punishment may be needed.​—Proverbs 22:15.

      22. If a child needs to be punished, what must he be helped to understand?

      22 Different children require different kinds of discipline. Some are not “corrected by mere words.” For them, the occasional punishment administered for disobedience may be lifesaving. (Proverbs 17:10; 23:13, 14; 29:19) A child, though, should understand why he is being punished. “The rod and reproof are what give wisdom.” (Proverbs 29:15; Job 6:24) Moreover, punishment has boundaries. “I shall have to chastise you to the proper degree,” said Jehovah to his people. (Jeremiah 46:28b) The Bible in no way endorses angry whippings or severe beatings, which bruise and even injure a child.​—Proverbs 16:32.

      23. What should a child be able to discern when he is punished by his parents?

      23 When Jehovah warned his people that he would discipline them, he first said: “Do not be afraid . . . for I am with you.” (Jeremiah 46:28a) Likewise, parental discipline, in whatever appropriate form, should never leave a child feeling rejected. (Colossians 3:21) Rather, the child should sense that discipline is given because the parent is ‘with him,’ on his side.