I work on the premise that children know they are supposed to be corrected.  I believe that since their little minds are designed and created by God, they are divinely tuned to receive Godly instruction and correction in their behavior.

Mind you, they are not mature enough to appreciate it, but they are wired to respond positively to it nonetheless.  Children will naturally come to respect those who train them to do what is right and who enforce that training as is needed.

I believe this is why Solomon wrote 2900 years ago: “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will remove it far from him”, Proverbs 22:15.

I have observed that when children do not get such instruction, they become confused, conflicted and agitated.  Too immature to discipline themselves, they follow their fleshly instincts (yes, even little children are creatures of spirit & flesh which are in conflict) behave “foolishly” as in the Proverb above, and then suffer the very same disruptive internal effects of their misbehavior as do adults.

Untrained and undisciplined children will almost certainly become selfish because they are too young to help themselves think or behave otherwise. Selfish behavior results in the development of a poor self-image even at a young age, and once again, they are too immature and therefore helpless to reason themselves into better thinking and better behavior.  Without correction, the tendency is for the poor self-image to result in even more poor behavior which continues to feed the image problem resulting in a downward spiral.

When children do not receive the training they instinctively know they are supposed to get from their parents, they come to resent and disrespect them. Just as a field left to itself will likely produce thorns & thistles, a child left to himself is also likely to result in a difficult harvest for himself and his parents.

Solomon encourages us again:

             “Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod,

he will not die.  You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol.”

Proverbs 23:13-14

 “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame

to his mother….. Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; he will also delight

your soul.”                                                                                Proverbs 29:15 & 17

 Your children will hopefully have lots of friends, but they will only have one mom & dad.  Be their mom.  Be their dad.