I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 29-31.

    Once again there are many little snippets of wisdom in today’s passage. That is, after all, the point of proverbs. They are little snippets of wisdom. However, today I see a theme which runs through many, if not most, of these proverbs:the importance of discipline. It is important that we discipline those we have authority over (whether they be our children, our subordinates at work, or someone we have authority over for some other reason). It is also important that we accept discipline from those in authority over us. I want to make the distinction between discipline and revenge (I am not sure revenge is the word I am looking for here, but it is the closest I can come at the moment). When we discipline someone we are attempting to teach them not to behave differently than they have in the past. However, sometimes we just want to make people suffer for what they have done, that is not discipline and benefits no one. This is addressed in 29:11

Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.

We need to recognize that this is both a call to restraint when we discipline others AND a call to exercising discipline ourselves. Which is the thought which ties this theme together. The writer talks about the importance of giving and receiving discipline, but he also writes about the importance of exercising discipline. I will not go into all of the proverbs here which discuss the importance of exercising discipline. The author even points out how those who fail to exercise discipline in their own lives hate those who do.