Beating the Hades Out of Him

(Pro 23:14 KJV)  Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

You have heard people use an expression like “beat the hell out of him.”  That type of approach is not what is being advocated here.  This is saying that pain is a legitimate teacher.  Fear of pain is a tool of emotional and intellectual growth.  You don’t believe it?  How many times do you have to bump your head before you learn to duck.  When I got my first bifocals it took me several major raps on the head to learn to duck when I went into the garage.  The garage door does not need to smack me any more.  I have learned my lesson.

Discipline teaches that there are consequences for bad behavior.  We teach children this principle on the small issues of life.  If they learn it, they transfer the lesson to the eternal issues.  They are saved from experiencing eternal head bumping. 

You are beating him out of “hell” (7585), not beating hell out of him.

So?  Ignore the social workers.  Ignore the culture.  Draw lines for your children and don’t let them cross without an awareness that there are consequences.  If you can’t understand the difference between legitimate discipline and brutal abuse then maybe you shouldn’t have or deal with children.