Who is God?: Parental Discipline and the Doctrine of God

Today in my youth ministry class we were discussing peer pressure among teens.  One contributing factor is parenting style.  Three common styles are authoritarian, permissive, and graceful direction.  A definition of these is not pertinent for now but something hit me while we were in discussion.  My professor was relating the discipline of his children to the discipline that God gives his children and that's when it hit me.  This may not be new to you but it was an incredible insight for me.  The way parents discipline their children is a portrayal of who God is.  Unfortunately it is a bad picture but nevertheless it tells kids who God is.  If a kids ask who God is and someone tells them he is our heavenly Father, that kid will relate that to their own father.  That's one of two things: good or bad.  The Holy Spirit really impressed upon me how important discipline is in parenting because of the picture it portrays.  

Proverbs 3:11-12 says, "My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."  God lovingly disciplines his children in a merciful way.  Does he allow hardships to befall us?  Yes.  Does he not give us things we want?  Yes.  Is it all for our good and his glory?  Absolutely.  Fathers ought to do the same.  The responsibility of the discipline of children should be that of the father.  He is the head of the household and spiritually responsible before God for his family.  Fathers have the privilege and charge to discipline their children in a way that shows who God is to their children.  A rightly disciplined child will better understand the nature of God and his loving discipline when they come to faith in Christ.  These words cannot express the sensation I had when this hit me.  It honestly gave me fear to know that one day, Lord willing, I will be a father and have this responsibility.  My prayer is that God would be rightly shown in the discipline of my future children.  

Loving discipline will more importantly lead them to Christ...