Key Ways Parents Fail in Administering Corporal Punishment (Don’t Read These Into the Bible)

Though some claim otherwise, the Bible does prescribe corporal punishment of children by their parents.

Proverbs 19:18: “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”

Some erroneously come to think that just incorporating the rod into their parenting is the Bible’s sure fix-all for their chaotic homes. Not so. When the Bible tells parents to use their rod on their children, it is only saying to do this in line with other Biblical principles concerning good character and wise judgment taken into account and followed. It is not justifying all corporal punishment of children nor saying that using the rod is a fix-all solution. Though by the Lord’s verdict in the Bible not using the rod when it is appropriate is a form of abuse in itself, there are many ways that the rod can be used which are also abuse.

Many parents have sinful anger and many take that out on their children. That is proved by how there are days when the children could do nothing to avoid their anger. It is no mystery that a parent’s sinful anger could easily cause their use of the rod on their children to be counterproductive. The Bible does not treat any and all anger as sinful (Ephesians 4:26). We are obligated to act based upon principle. The Bible does indeed condemn walking in anger, misdirecting anger (in terms of who it is directed at and what it causes one to do), and it condemns being impulsive and/or emotion-driven.

Proverbs 22:8: “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”

In order for anger to be righteous it must be directed at things which are actually unrighteous, it must not cause one to lose self-control, and it must act within the boundaries of God’s law.

We also read in Ephesians 6:4: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Since parents are commanded to nurture their children, when they use the rod on them it should not be done in a way which injures them. In order for children to be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord they also have to be told what they did that was wrong and instructed concerning what they should have done instead. Being inconsistent in discipline would also be a real provocation to wrath. This happens when the children get away with stuff on one day which they wouldn’t get away with on another.

Using the hands or a belt to administer discipline is not the same as the Bible’s prescription of the rod. Besides being much more likely to cause injury than the rod, the hands or a belt make it much easier for a parent to act out of anger. A rod-like instrument (such as a wooden spoon) stored in a place that is not easily accessible provides a chance to re-evaluate whether corporal punishment is really called for in the situation at hand and can help in making sure whatever punishment is proper is administered calmly. Children need to be taught to not be impulsive and to not pursue instant gratification. Excessive and/or illogical beatings do not teach these lessons. They rather teach the opposite.