Bringing Up Children God's Way

The command to parents is for them to bring up [their children] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Paideia (discipline) comes from the word pais (child) and refers to the systematic training of children. It includes the idea of correction for wrongdoing, as seen in the well–known proverb, “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently” (Prov. 13:24). In the several uses of the term in Hebrews 12:5–11, the translators of the Authorized Version rendered it “chastening,” which is clearly the emphasis of that context. Paul's meaning here is expressed even more fully, however, in the proverb “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it” (22:6). Discipline has to do with the overall training of children, including punishment. . . .