Discipline: Why it is for parents, not children

 Many parents abuse children in this country, meaning most. 94% of parents punish and control children, with 70% of adults supporting the physical battery against children under Christian law. The reason - "disciplinary rights". They don't exist. The state has the right to tell parents how to raise their children, in terms of child abuse and neglect, which under natural law is whatever the child perceives. Natural law prescribes that discipline is a struggle for parents, in a way that is a reassurance to children. That will be the case until the end of time, even as most people don't notice.

It says in Hebrews 12:4-11 KJV:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is ye which the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we had fathers of the flesh which corrected them, and we gave them reverence: shall we not be under the subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after our their own pleasure, but he for our profit. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous in nature to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

The Greek root word translated "scourgeth" is μαστιγόω (Latin: mastigoó) and refers to the scourging of an errant adult son, meaning not a child, in the Old Testament. This scourging took place in a courtroom, not a family home setting, and was a last warning after the errant son was convicted of a capital offense. Such an offense required many warnings before it could go to trial, with extended family and others in the settlement or city gathering evidence by eyewitness. Criminal trials were a rare even, happening only once or twice in a decade in any Jewish city. The Greek root word translated "chasteneth" and "chastisement" is παιδεία (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to the chastening of the Lord, meaning being chastened up in relation to one's child, in a sheltering way towards the child, being convicted of reverent fear of the child's every need. It would be painful at first, but the rewards pleasant, with the scourge here being simply symbolic of enduring hardship as a parent. The Greek root word translated "grievous" is λυπέ (Latin: lupe) and refers merely to hardship, corresponding with the cultural understanding of the rod of correction. The rod of correction was symbolic in the ancient Hebrew culture of moral hardships and hard lessons for parents and other adults.

It says in Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live upon the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to trust in parents, and is a commandment for parents primarily, not children. It is secure, vulnerable rest in the care and safety of parents, knowing one can say to or tell anything to parents, and not fear punishment, owing absolutely nothing in relation to parents, but listening to parents nonetheless, not out of fear, but out of trust. Parents, to earn such respect, are to sacrifice for their children just as Christ sacrificed for His own children, giving themselves up, rendering themselves as beneath the child, expecting absolutely nothing in return, leading to Christian love, denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao). 

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is the same as in Hebrews 12:4-11, παιδεία. Parents are to be chastened up in relation to children, in a way that is warm and listening in nature to a child's upset and frustration. Parents are to give a disciplined example to their children, charring themselves with charcoal, then replenishing them, with parents struck with reverent terror of harming or neglecting their child, denoted by the Greek root word ψοβός (Latin: phobos) and convicts parents into a mold, modeling to children, in exemplary format, how to behave in an orderly, disciplined fashion. The Greek root word translated "admonition" is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and refers to the admonition of the Lord, meaning the word "no" or its various variants, setting healthy limits and boundaries that are developmentally appropriate, meaning the word "no" in a Christian home should be rare, with children otherwise having full reign due to their limited development. This is, however, weighed by the Greek root word παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers to offenses perceived by the child, referring to the torts and damages imposed on children, such as assault and battery torts, which protected children under the Mosaic Law, and Christian law in the New Testament.

Mothers and fathers alike were disciplined then, and did not impose punishment or control on children. Young children were swaddled against their mother's body, in swaddling clothes. This lasted until age 3 or even older. This closeness created a bond with parents so that children would emulate the chastened up traits of children later in childhood, with boys receiving religious instruction in the form of Socratic reasoning, meaning questions met with questions to make a child think for themselves, and learn for themselves what the Bible says.

Discipline is something for parents to master, not children primarily. Children will then, if there is a secure bond, see their parents as their best friend, and tell them anything, and will feel comfortable being the backseat driver of parenting, calling the shots as to what they need, including in terms of benign wants.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them rot in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!