The use of the rod is an act of faith.  God has mandated its use. The parent obeys, not because he perfectly understands how it works, but because God has commanded it.  The use of the rod is a profound expression of confidence in God’s wisdom and the excellency of His counsel.  The rod is an act of faithfulness toward a child.  Recognising that in discipline there is hope, refusing to be a willing party to his child’s death, the parent undertakes the task.  It is an expression of love and commitment. 

On many occasions, the author’s children have seen tears in his eyes when it was time to spank them.  He did not want to do it.  His love for his children drove him to the task.  He knew that failure to spank would be unfaithfulness to their souls.

The rod is a responsibility.  It is not the parent’s determination to punish. It is the parent determining to obey. It is the parent as God’s representative, undertaking, on God’s behalf, what God has called him to do.  He is not on his own errand, but fulfilling God’s.

The rod is a careful, timely, measured and controlled use of physical punishment.  The rod is never a venting of parental anger.  It is not what the parent does when he is frustrated.  It is not a response to feeling his child has made things hard for him. It is always measured and controlled.  The parent knows the proper measure of severity for this particular child at this particular time.  The child knows how many swats are to come.

The rod is a rescue mission.  The child needs a spanking because he has become distanced from his parents through disobedience.  The spanking is designed to rescue the child from continuing in his foolishness.  If he continues, his doom is certain.  Thus, the parent, driven by love for the child, must use the rod.

The rod underscores the importance of obeying God.  Remember, the issue is never, “You have failed to obey me.” The only reason for a child to obey mom and dad is that God commands it.  Failure to obey mom or dad is, therefore, failure to obey God.  This is the issue.  The child has failed to obey God.  The child has failed to do what God has mandated. To persist places the child at great risk.

The biblical concept of the rod is not the right to unbridled temper.  It is not the right to hit our children whenever we please.  It is not to vent our frustration on our children.  It is not the parent exacting retribution for the child’s wrong.  It is not associated with anger. 

The rod teaches outcomes to behaviour.  Consistent use of the rod teaches your children that there are inevitable outcomes to behaviour.  Young children must learn to obey.  When disobedience is met with painful consequences, they learn that God has built the principle of sowing and reaping into the world.  The use of the rod preserves biblically rooted parental authority.