What does the Bible say about child discipline?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible teaches that parents should discipline their children with steady love, godly wisdom, and self-control, seeking their good rather than venting anger or asserting power. Proverbs commends timely correction as a means of imparting wisdom and guarding children from folly, while warning that neglect harms them. Proverbs 29:17 and 23:13-14 connect faithful discipline with a child’s future peace and welfare. Yet Christian correction must never be harsh or humiliating: Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21 call fathers to nurture children in the Lord without provoking discouragement. Hebrews 12:11 reminds believers that discipline is painful for a time but can yield righteousness when received and given rightly.
Top passages, ranked by readers
Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- Proverbs 29:17 9 votes
Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.
- Proverbs 29:15 8 votes
The rod of correction gives wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother.
- Proverbs 23:13-14 7 votes
Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.
- Ephesians 6:4 7 votes
You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Proverbs 22:15 6 votes
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
- Proverbs 13:24 6 votes
One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- Hebrews 12:11 6 votes
All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
- Proverbs 22:6 5 votes
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- Colossians 3:21 5 votes
Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
- Proverbs 19:18 5 votes
Discipline your son, for there is hope; don’t be a willing party to his death.
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