Mother gently comforting a young boy seated beside her in a living room

Disciplining for Life

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“Disaster pursues sinners, but good rewards the righteous. A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. The uncultivated field of the poor yields abundant food, but without justice, it is swept away. The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently. A righteous person eats until he is satisfied, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.” (Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭21‬-‭25‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Disciplining kids is tough. As a parent, you always wonder whether you are doing right. Were you tough enough to match the misdeed? Too tough? What exactly is an effective punishment or even merely a consequence in light of what they did? Is that even the right way to think about it. Of course, this is all much easier when it comes to other people’s kids. Then you always know with perfect clarity and discernment what they should have done. It’s just with your own kids that it becomes challenging for some reason. But what is clear is that you have to do it. Not disciplining them at all isn’t an option if you want them to turn out even remotely well. Solomon agrees. Let’s talk about this and a few other matters as we finish up chapter 13 today.

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Group of young adults standing on a park path beside graffiti and litter

Good Friends Matter

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“A wicked envoy falls into trouble, but a trustworthy courier brings healing. Poverty and disgrace come to those who ignore discipline, but the one who accepts correction will be honored. Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is detestable to fools. The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

One of the best observations about friendship I’ve ever heard was the big idea of a sermon: Your friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. That, as they say, will preach. The people we choose to surround ourselves with will unavoidably have an impact on our lives. And there’s a difference between people who are simply around us and people we allow to have access to our lives. It is the ones to whom we give access who will have the greatest impact. These people we need to choose carefully. Solomon agrees. Let’s talk about it.

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Two women talking in a cozy study beside bookshelves and coffee

Seeking Good Advice

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“Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous never changes. Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.” (Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭15‬-‭16 ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Men are famously bad about asking for directions. It’s a common enough flaw in our programing that it has become its own trope. And when we don’t ask for directions, while we sometimes get where we intend to go, we more likely wind up somewhere we don’t want to be. I remember arriving back at the airport coming home from a long trip late one night with the whole family in tow. We got to the satellite lot to get the car, but I hadn’t written down our stop and got us off at the wrong one…on the complete opposite side of the lot. We had to wait for another bus to come by, dealing our arrival at home by a lot. I still rightly pay for that one. It’s always better to seek counsel than look foolish. Solomon agrees. Let’s talk about it.

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The Picture of Forgiveness

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We are continuing today in our series, The Beauty of Forgiveness. So far along the way we have talked about the fact that we have forgiveness available to us in Jesus and that forgiveness comes naturally to God. Today we are reflecting for a bit on just what it means that forgiveness comes so naturally to God. And we are doing this through the lens of a passage that isn’t one we might normally turn to for help with…well…anything. Yet every word of the Scriptures is useful for making us over in God’s image, including this one. So, let’s dive in and see just what God plans for when given the chance.

The Picture of Forgiveness

Do you remember the Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons? It was one of the few Disney animated films that came out after they started working with Pixar. It’s about a boy named Lewis who gets caught up in a time-traveling adventure to stop a dastardly villain from rewriting history. The villain in the film—at least the human villain; the main villain turns out to be an evil AI program that wants to turn humanity into its slaves— turns out to be Lewis’ roommate from their orphanage, Goob. At the pivotal moment of the story, Lewis stays up all night working on a big science fair project. His late hours keep Goob from getting any sleep the night before a big baseball game. Because of his exhaustion, he falls asleep in the outfield and misses a critical fly ball that would have sealed the win for his team. Missing it made sure they lost, consigning him forever to a life of shame. Rather than moving on, though, Goob just stews in his anger and resentment toward Lewis until they form a deep-seated hatred and bitterness. This basically stunts his emotional and relational development. Years later, he happens upon an opportunity to go back and get revenge, which is basically how the whole story gets set into motion in the first place. To put all that in other words: Goob planned for vengeance.

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Scholar signs parchment reading “PACTUM Anima Mea Felicitas Perpetua” while a darkly dressed man points beside him; “H. HAUST” appears below.

It’s Not What You Think

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Well, given that I’ve posted the previous two parts over the past couple of Fridays, I thought I would complete the set today. We’ve been taking a fresh look at a series on marriage I preached several years ago called Marriage Myths. In each part of the series we unpacked a different myth that our culture often tells us about marriage. Along the way we discovered why the truth is so much better than even the grandest fiction our culture can devise. In this final myth, we’re actually covering ground I covered more recently in the marriage series I preached just a few weeks ago. Marriage isn’t about happiness. Not primarily anyway. Let’s talk about what it’s really about instead, and why that’s better.

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