Pain Now = Peace Later

Pain now equal peace later. This is one of my favorite phrases to keep in mind when it comes to discipline. If we give it just a little bit of thought, we all will admit this statement is true. But knowing it’s true and living it out are two different things, aren’t they? Oftentimes, we hate living it out.

We know in order to have money for our future, we must save and live on less today, but who likes living on less? Nobody! We know that to maintain our bodies’ health, we must eat right and exercise on a regular basis. But, who wants to eat a salad when you can have a bacon cheeseburger and French fries? Not me!
The same principle applies to our children’s lives. If you want to launch an adult child into the world who takes responsibility for their actions, makes good choices in life and has a good work ethic, then you must teach them those things while they are young. And it isn’t going to be pleasant all the time! No child instinctively takes responsibility for their actions. In fact, most often they do the exact opposite and blame another person. And we can all think of a laundry list of times our children haven’t made good choices! Learning to work hard is another thing that doesn’t come naturally. Otherwise we’d never have to remind our kids to pick up their clothes or get going on their homework! These things are taught at a young age, and over time hopefully that lesson is learned.

Disciplining your child is the pain that will bring great peace (to both you and themselves) later on in life. Remember moms, pain now equals peace later.