Day 364: Stirring Up Anger to Punish

By t.pep.me | December 30, 2014 |

Proverbs 30:33

So stirring up anger produces strife.

Principle

Using anger as a form of punishment is stirring up a pot of pain.

Corporal punishment has been in the news of late. The debate continues on the merits of physical spanking over other forms of punishment. I can see the pros and cons of each side of the debate; however, there is one form of discipline that I find more insidious and damaging to mental and emotional stability than any other—namely, exasperating your child.

To exasperate means to “arouse anger as a form of punishment.” It is so damaging that the Bible warns fathers not to use it.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4

Our Advisor also warns us that stirring up anger will produce strife rather than obedience. The insidiousness of this punishment is that it manipulates and uses a person’s emotions to cause pain.

I’ve said before that strife is the manifestation of Satan. Evil lives where strife resides. Where there is strife, there is every form of evil.

You see the reports of strife during the evening news, domestic violence erupts, and family turns violent against one another. Someone ends up hurt or even dead because of strife.

Do not provoke your children; rather discipline them by teaching the precepts and principles of the Word of God. The Bible promises that those who live by the precepts of God will be blessed. That’s what you want for your child. You want them to thrive in life. Rather than provoke them to anger, why not provoke them to good works? (Read Hebrews 10:24)