Do Not Provoke Your Children To Anger

Turn to the Bible for advice on raising children.

 Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.  --Ephesians 6:4 The Message Version

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. --Ephesians 6:4 King James Version   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.  --Ephesians 6:4 New Living Version   Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. --Ephesians 6:4 New International Version     What are your words and actions teaching your children about God?   If you want to know something about me, listen to this.  I love to study.  I love to study the Word of God.  I am a constant learner.  That's why I like gathering different versions of the same Bible verse.    I think it's important to look at what we should do to raise our children correctly.  We must also look at how we should not treat our children.  The Bible, God's word, tells us not to cause our children to get angry.  We should raise them with methods that God authorizes.  The question is: What constitutes the proper training that we must provide for our children?    The following is a list of how we can achieve our parenting role:  1. To be nurturing--teach the children the love of God.  Feed the children the Word of God because Man does not live by bread alone but by the word of God as is illustrated in Matthew 4:4; these are the direct words spoken by Jesus.  2. To be Training--give the child the moral and ethical beliefs, based on the Biblical teaching.  This is highlighted to some extent in Genesis 18:19, where it says righteousness and justice shall be taught, as Moses instructs of the parents.  3. To be Chastening--correct the child when he does wrong; bring him back from his wrong-doing; using the Bible as a basis for teaching the right and wrongs of behaviors, illustrating the consequences of both.  A caution to keep to the laws of God is illustrated in Deuteronomy 4:9.   I believe that we must correct our children when they do wrong, but yelling and physically striking them does not work. Discussing what the proper behavior is will go a long way in teaching a child where he has gone wrong.  Showing a child how connected he/she is with God and the people around him/her will show what is proper behavior.  I think the best law is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  This is where the fairness and justice comes in; if we are respectful of others, we will be respected.   My question to you, my readers is this: How are you disciplining your children?  Are you discussing God and His love with your children?  Are you instilling a love of God and His righteousness in the lives of your children?  I encourage you to evaluate how you are teaching your children about God.  Please consider whether you are teaching your children about a loving God versus a judgmental God.  Also, think about how you use your words and actions to discipline your children.    I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace. 

This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/