Growth from Punishment

 

When it comes to learning, I’ve never gotten much out of anything that has come easy to me. 

True growth comes from discipline. I know that discipline and doing things that aren’t easy or are hard isn’t a trendy topic these days, but that’s life. If you want to be something more than average, it’s going to take punishment. 

This scripture is meant to guide us on how to raise our kids. It’s about punishing bad behavior at a young age to help them understand. I know there are bunch of PHDs out there who are going to disagree with it and say just tell your kids what they did wrong, you don’t need to punish them…well those kids are grown up (well kind of) and I’m not so sure that style worked - whether you have eye-contact or not. 

The world is brutal. Civilization has added some rosey filters to it, but it's still a brutal place. Sure our advanced civilization has protected us from some of the harshness of the world, but who knows if that will last the way it's going. Even in this kushy, protected civilization where people think meat is magically made by the supermarkets, to be successful you have to have resolve, discipline, discernment and patience. All things that if not taught by parents are learned in a much harder fashion. 

I’m lucky. I was punished. I got spanked. I spent time in the corner. I got grounded. I got yelled at and even got slapped. Punishment was part of my world and I’m more than grateful to my parents for doing it. My brother and sister had the same up-bringing and we are all strong, we are all tough and we know how to work hard. 

I’m 45 now and nothing is getting easier. It’s getting harder. I want to be physically strong, so I have to find time I don’t really have to get to the gym. I want to mentally strong, so I have to work in time to read articles and listen to podcasts that teach me even though I want to be entertained. I want to be spiritually strong, so I get up at 4 am so I can spend time reading the Bible getting my life on a moral and right path. 

To be the best you can be, you have to learn from punishment and hard times. You have to punish yourself at times…to be fit, to be smart, to be close to God. This life is not about easy, it's about grinding it out so that you can continually grow. For me I have no intention of stopping.