Avoiding The Mistakes Of Parenting (Part 2 - Discipline) Series

Introduction:

A. Happy Father’s Day to all our dads.

1. Let me start with a little Father’s Day humor.

2. One time a little boy was asked to define Father’s Day and he said, “Its just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the present.”

B. I have a Top 10 List for you: Top Ten Things Father’s Have Been Itching to Say for Years…

#10. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

#9. Shopping is NOT a sport, and no, we are never going to think of it that way.

#8. Sunday = sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. So, Let it be.

#7. “Yes” and “No” are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

#6. Check your oil! Please, check your oil!

#5. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all past comments

become null and void after 7 days.

#4. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry,

we meant the other one.

#3. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing’s wrong.

#2. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit,

not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. And we have no idea what mauve is.

#1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we…

C. So, Happy Father’s Day. Dads, please stand so we can honor you and pray for you.

D. Today we are continuing our series on Avoiding Life’s Biggest Mistakes.

1. Last week we discussed one of the biggest mistakes we can make in parenting which is showing favoritism.

2. This week we are going to discuss another of the biggest problems that parents can make which is neglecting to discipline their children.

E. I want us to keep two Old Testament proverbs in mind as we work through this lesson.

1. The first is: Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”

2. The second is: Proverbs 19:18, “Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.”

F. Our good/bad examples today happen to be three parents whose lives intersected in Old Testament times.

1. Their names are Eli, Samuel, and David and their stories are found in 1st and 2nd Samuel.

2. All of them failed to properly discipline their children which lead to disastrous consequences.

I. Their Stories

A. Before Samuel was conceived and born, his mother, Hannah was barren and longed to have a son.

1. She and her husband faithfully worshiped the Lord and prayed that she would have children.

2. During that time they would go to Shiloh to worship the Lord, and they were ministered to by Eli the priest and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

3. Hannah made a vow to the Lord, saying that if she were to have a son, he would be given to the Lord.

4. God blessed Hannah and she had a son and named him Samuel, which sounds like the Hebrew word for “heard of God.”

5. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, took Samuel and presented him to the Lord, and left him to be raised and trained by Eli the priest of God.

6. Each year Samuel’s mother made him a new robe and took it to him when they went up to offer their annual sacrifice.

7. So, the boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.

B. The Bible tells us that all was not well with Eli and his sons.

1. 1 Sam. 2:12 says, “Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.”

2. What were Hophni and Phinehas up to that was so evil? Two things.

3. For one thing, we are told that they were involved in sexual immorality. They were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. (1 Sam. 2:22)

4. The other thing they were doing, was helping themselves to the meat brought for sacrifice before the fat was cooked off the meat.

5. The law allowed for the meat to be eaten by the priests and their families after it had been properly sacrificed.

6. But they decided they liked it better before the fat was boiled off. We all like it better that way.

7. So, they told the people to give them the meat in its raw form, and if the people would not hand it over to them, then they would take it by force.

8. The Bible says, “This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.” (1 Sam. 2:17)