You're Grounded

“You’re grounded.”

I was thinking about this phrase the other day and how it has such a negative connotation behind it.

Sure, we as parents use it as a form of discipline with our kids, but I wanted to know where the phrase actually came from.

According to what I found, the punishment of “grounding” comes from aviation. By the 1930s and 1940s, military and civilian authorities used the term “grounded” when an aircraft or pilot was forbidden from flying because of behavior, rule-breaking, or safety concerns. Parents later adopted the phrase to mean keeping a child at home and taking away certain privileges.

Then there’s another kind of “grounding,” also known as “earthing.” The idea behind it is to establish direct physical contact with the earth.

Well, now that we know that let’s talk about it.

When I started thinking about how we view grounding as either punishment or a way of connecting, I realized that both can be about getting back to the basics.

When we need a break, or we know someone needs to make some adjustments, sometimes the best thing to do is take a step back, look at the situation, and figure out what needs to change in order to move forward on a different or better path.

Being grounded can strip things away so we can gain clarity and see things from a new perspective.

Colossians 1:22 says, “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”

When we ground our kids, we are teaching them about right and wrong. But we also need to have conversations with them about the why behind the correction.

God disciplines us too. If we never experienced correction from our own parents, we might have a harder time understanding why God corrects us. We might see His correction as cruel or overly harsh instead of recognizing the purpose behind it.

Getting grounded with God means spending time in His presence so that we can better understand who He is. As we walk the path of knowing God, we begin to understand what He expects of us.

When we learn that He calls us to obedience, we begin to understand what we are supposed to do: obey our Father.

Whether we’re grounding our kids or trying to become more grounded ourselves, we are seeking some kind of reset.

A reset for them and a reset for us.

We all need resets and adjustments in life.

We need to seek the why behind things and ask God to show us how we can better obey Him.

Jesus came and gave His life for us so that we could be reconciled to God. He took the punishment for our sin upon Himself so that we could be brought into a relationship with the Father.

We will make mistakes, but if we choose a life of following Jesus, our reward is eternity with Him. If we choose to reject Him, we are choosing a life apart from Him.

It’s that simple.

We must confess our sins, and we must ground ourselves in God so that we know who our Father is and understand why it is important to listen to and obey Him.

When we read the Old Testament, there are times when we may think God is being harsh. But as we continue reading, we see the importance God places on obedience and the consequences that came when His people continually chose not to obey Him.

2 Kings 18:12 – “For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the Lord ’s servant had commanded them to obey.”

Scripture repeatedly reminds God's people of the importance of obedience.

Leviticus 18:4 - “You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.”

We don’t always understand what God is doing, just as our kids don’t always understand what we are doing.

BUT there is a reason behind correction: LOVE.

John 3:16-17 - “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

God's love for us is so great that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through Jesus.

God also gives parents instruction on how to guide their children.

Proverbs 22:6 - “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

When we read about God’s love, we begin to understand why we can trust and obey our Father.

When we read the direction God gives parents, we also understand the responsibility we have to lovingly guide and correct our children.

No matter how we look at the idea of being grounded, I think it ultimately comes down to seeking.

Seeking answers.

Seeking understanding.

Seeking a reset.

Seeking how to become more obedient.

And most importantly, seeking a deeper connection with God.

Sometimes being grounded is exactly what we need to get our feet back on solid ground.