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A Shift in Discipline

By: Steve Negley

Posted: March 15, 2017

Category: Daily Devotional

A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person
than a hundred blows into a fool.

Proverbs 17:10

My parents had the challenge of raising children in the 1960’s when the attitude about discipline was shifting in households and our whole society. I remember being “spanked” a few times, and I also remember “being talked too.” As you probably know, the latter was often the most effective thing in the long run (but a quick pop did get my attention!)

The writer of Proverbs wasn’t influenced by the same cultural influences as my mom and dad, but the words from Proverbs reflect some of the same wisdom. You can beat a fool and not get much positive correction, where a few chosen words of rebuke can change the mind and direction of a discerning person.

Hopefully we are more often dealing in our daily lives with discerning people over fools. So I guess the advice for most days would be: use carefully placed verbal assaults in most of your conflict, and hope for the best outcome.

Prayer 

Dear God, stand by me in my confrontations today, and help me to prevail in the wisest ways. Amen.