Free One Word From God Can Change Your Family by Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland

him early.”
    —Proverbs 13:24, (The Amplified Bible)
    Escape artists...I’ve been fascinated by them for years. Performers like the late Harry Houdini have amazed many people for decades using techniques and illusion to convince the crowds they had found the hidden way out of seemingly immovable constraints.
    But it’s not these escape artists who capture my attention the most. No, my interest is in the real pros—the ones who without tricks or illusion find their way out of air-tight situations in no time. These outstanding masters of escape search and probe and test relentlessly to find the weak link or loophole that will free them of their constraints. These are really the world’s great escape artists. And they live right under our noses!
    You know who I’m talking about? The escape skills of our children are highly advanced! They can smell a loophole miles away. If they can find a way out from correction, they will smell it and go for it.
    So what does a parent do to bridle the escape artists? We have to be anointed “plugger-uppers.” We have to plug up our own loopholes of deceived attitudes and wrong actions that provide our children an escape from the loving, positive, Bible correction they need. Read on and I’ll show you what I mean...
Plug Up the Loophole of Humanism
    The first loophole you’ll need to plug as a parent is any humanistic thinking on your part. With its rejection of the supernatural and emphasis on using reason to discover self-worth and identity, humanism has caused some parents to conclude that only by leaving children to themselves will they be happy and fulfilled. Humanistic thinking teaches that parental authority and correction are wrong and only hinder the true freedom of the child.
    But you don’t have to go to a university or be a rocket scientist to know that if you leave your child by himself, he’s going to end up in trouble. That’s why it’s not when your child is making noise that you get concerned. It’s when he’s quiet that your ears perk up!
    Children left to themselves don’t produce actions that will make them happy and fulfilled and truly free later in life. Instead of true fulfillment and wisdom being bound up in the heart of a child, Proverbs 22:15 says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” I don’t care how cute your little one is, he does not need to be left alone to do his own thing. He needs (and wants) your loving, biblical correction and guidance.
Plug Up the Loophole of False Love
    Many parents leave loopholes in the correcting of their children. They fail to understand the real meaning of the word love so they “go soft.” Proverbs 13:24 says, “He who spares his rod [of discipline] hates his son, but he who loves him diligently disciplines and punishes him early” (The Amplified Bible).
    Some parents really have trouble with that. They say, “Well, I love my children too much to spank them.” On the surface this sounds good. But this is a false love that falls short of the kind of love God wants parents to show to their children. It’s a deceived mind-set that falls prey to this false love.
    You see, without true love, there really is no true correction. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord corrects and disciplines every one whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes” (The Amplified Bible).
    I used to think I surely must hold the record for being in the pastor’s office the most for correction. I don’t know how many times I heard these words, “You know, Ian, it’s a joy correcting you.”
    “Thanks,” I said. (It may have been a joy to him, but I usually wasn’t feeling so joyful at the time!)
    “You know why?” he would continue. “Because I know that you know we love you. And because you know and I know that we love you, when we tell you what needs to be changed, we know you’ll do