Fathers: Don't Make Your Children Angry
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. 2 "Honor your father and mother." This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. 3 And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, "you will live a long life, full of blessing." 4 And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.
Clearly, children should obey their parents. Honoring parents is fundamental to God's plan. Children that obey their parents also learn how to obey God. Obedience and honoring brings the promise of living a long and fruitful life.
Those of us who are parents also need to obey our "Parent," Father God, in order to provide proper guidance to our children. The text gives an example of the importance of fathers not being overly harsh or unfair in the treatment of their children.
Children, like adults, can detect inequity and an uncaring spirit. Too many parents, and fathers, "rant and rave" or spank children out of frustration. How would you feel if someone shouted at you or breathed threats against you? Being a parent is no license for disrespecting our own children.
Making children angry by our irrational actions only causes them to miss important lessons in personal discipline and instruction.
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