another fad?

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a post somewhere in the depths of blogland — don’t ask me where — written by a Christian mom. In it, she listed the things that moms get really “into”, and the pressure one can feel to conform, in order to be hip or whatever. Since I can’t remember where in the [cyber]world this post is, I’ll just write a short list of the things I remember that she mentioned:

— breastfeeding
— organic, from-scratch eating
— homeschooling
— spanking*

Okay.

Read that list again. Now, tell me, which of those things is not like the others?

Did you figure it out? If not, here’s the answer: spanking.

Now, I’m totally gung-ho about breastfeeding, and I have my biblical reasons for it. And over my dead body will my kids spend 8 hours a day being taught by anyone but my husband or me. However, those things are personal convictions — convictions, yes, and I can tell you the scripture and verse with which I’ve been convicted — but personal revelation.

But spanking does not fall into the personal conviction category. No, things that are written in black and white, over and over and over, are no longer a matter of how the Lord is speaking to you personally. At some point, it’s just the Bible truth, and we have to obey.

Now, let me say this: if you are spanking your children because you’re trying to fit in with a cool group of mommies, well, you’re wrong. If you’re spanking your children just because that’s how you were raised, well, you should think twice about that, too. And if you’re spanking your kids because you’re angry, then you’re in serious sin. The reason behind how we are training our children needs to be firmly rooted in the Word. Period.

But once we have the Word established as our guide for raising our children, we will find that there are black and white truths to be found. Like, the rod of correction.

The fact that I believe this to be true doesn’t mean childtraining is a walk in the park. It doesn’t mean I’ll never raise the questions again. That’s why I’m really excited about the upcoming series at momandus. I can’t wait to see what my mom and Brietta — two moms I seriously honor and venerate — have to say about obeying the Word and reaping the fruit of children walking in righteousness!

(*When I say spanking, I’m referring to controlled and purposed swats on the bottom — not random hitting.)

2 Comments another fad?

  1. Angela S.

    I have a problem with spanking. I only do it because of obedience to the Word of God. But oftentimes I do it wrongly- like when angry blood rushes to my head. Both my husband and I do it incorrectly half the time. That’s why I’d rather not do it at all. (of course we do it correctly half the time, too) But it’s disobedience to NOT spank.

    I’m not too pious to admit that I have a bit of a problem with God’s word on this particular subject. I downright dislike obeying the direction to apply the rod. I hate doing it and I don’t do it well. But I still do it. Ugh.

    So how does someone like me ever “win?” If I don’t do it I’m wrong. And when I do it wrong, I’m wrong. Such is the way of life: 2/3 failure, 1/3 success. *sigh*

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  2. Danica

    @Angela: Actually, the whole “what do I do when I’m angry?” is one of the questions I want to see my mom address, because, um, hi. We’ve all been there!

    I wonder, too, what has formed your conceptions/problems with the idea of spanking, and what literature you’ve read to reinforce a biblical idea of it? I will definitely be the first to say that it takes a lot of faith to believe that there’s a connection between a child’s bottom and their heart — but the Bible says it, and I’ve seen (and lived!) the fruit of it. While it may not make a lot of “sense,” when I consider alternate ways of dealing with behavior (time outs, deprivation of privileges, etc), I realize how totally faulty they are because they really only do address behavior. They never get to the fact that our children have foolishness bound up their hearts — foolishness that denies the Lordship of Christ — and spanking can be a powerful tool to open up the eyes of our little ones to their need.

    Anyway, I’m excited about the series at momandus. I hope you’ll send some questions our way. And I think at some point soon, we’re going to do a book study using Shepherding a Child’s Heart — which is really inspiring.

    (Oh, and p.s.: My mom would tell us all the time about her failure rate, and how God would “spank” her, too, when she disobeyed, and how she had to repent and ask Him to help her change, because she couldn’t on her own… The gospel, one more time, in children’s language!)

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