Note, 1. To the education of children in that which is good there is
necessary a due correction of them for what is amiss; every child of
ours is a child of Adam, and therefore has that foolishness bound up in
its heart which calls for rebuke, more or less, the rod and reproof
which give wisdom. Observe, It is his rod that must be used, the rod of
a parent, directed by wisdom and love, and designed for good, not the
rod of a servant. 2. It is good to begin betimes with the necessary
restraints of children from that which is evil, before vicious habits
are confirmed. The branch is easily bent when it is tender. 3. Those
really hate their children, though they pretend to be fond of them,
that do not keep them under a strict discipline, and by all proper
methods, severe ones when gentle ones will not serve, make them
sensible of their faults and afraid of offending. They abandon them to
their worst enemy, to the most dangerous disease, and therefore hate
them. Let this reconcile children to the correction their good parents
give them; it is from love, and for their good, Heb. xii. 7-9.