Discipline

I have been reading more that usual about discipline.  :)  I have found some helpful advice and caution to say the least. 

Parental approach and attitude:

"Be firm, be decided in carrying out Bible instruction, but be free from all passion.   Bear in mind that when you become harsh and unreasonable before your little ones, you teach them to be the same.... You are, parents, the light of your home.  Then let your light shine forth in pleasant words, in soothing tones of the voice.  Take all the sting out of them by prayers to God for self-control.  Angels will be in your home, for they will observe your light.  The discipline you give your children will go forth in strong and clear currents from your correctly managed home to the world. "  Child Guidance p240

"Sometimes they (children) will have to be punished, but never do it in such a way that they will feel that they have been punished in anger." CG p244

"Your children may have done something that demands punishment; but if you deal with them in the spirit of Christ, their arms will be thrown about your neck; they will humble themselves before the Lord and will acknowledge their wrong.  That is enough.  They do not need punishment." CG p.244


"If your children are disobedient, they should be corrected....Before correcting them, go by yourself and ask the Lord to soften and subdue the hearts of your children and to give you wisdom in dealing with them."  CG p. 244

Some advice on discipline:

"The moment that the child begins to choose his own will and way, that moment his education in discipline is to begin...Frequently mere babies show a most determined will.  If this will is not brought into subjection to a wiser authority than the child's untrained desires, Satan takes control of the mind and fashions the disposition in harmony with his will." Child Guidance p 230  


Some Bible verses that support this idea are:  
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?  Jer 17:9

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezek 36:26

      "Eli did not manage his household according to God's rules for family government.  He followed his own judgment.  The fond father overlooked the faults and sins of his sons in their childhood, flattering himself that after a time they would outgrow their evil tendencies.  Many are now making a similar mistake.  They think they know a better way of training their children than that which God has given in His Word.  They foster wrong tendencies in them, urging as an excuse, 'They are too young to be punished. Wait till they become older and can be reasoned with.'  Thus wrong habits are left to strengthen until they become second nature.  The children grow up without restraint, with traits of character that are a lifelong curse to them and are liable to be reproduced in others.   
     There is no greater curse upon households than to allow the youth to have their own way.  When parents regard every wish of their children and indulge them in what they know is not for their good, the children soon lose all respect for their parents, all regard for the authority of God or man, and are led captive at the will of Satan." CG p 231

   
     "Tell your children exactly what you require of them.  Then let them understand that your word is law and must be obeyed.  Thus you are training them to respect the commandments of God, which plainly declare, 'Thou shalt,' and 'Thou shalt not.'  It is far better for your boy to obey from principle than compulsion."  Child Guidance p 225