"Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart. "
Colossians 3:21
TRAINING AND TEACHING
Read It: Ephesians 6:4 ook at the last line of yesterday's study again. Today is the balance to that. Good parents don't let their kids run things, but they also know you can't provoke children and expect them to come out right. As a father, I think I know why Paul spoke to fathers. All things being equal, Dad's the first one to get mad and the one most likely to react by coming down hard. But this isn't limited to fathers. All of us parents need to ask, what are some ways we can provoke or anger our kids? One way is by smothering them, overparenting them. Favoritism is another spirit-killer: "Why can't you be more like your sister?" You can anger children by forcing your unfulfilled dreams on them. "I didn't get to be a doctor, son, but you are going to be a doctor." Son's reply: "But, Dad, I don't like doctoring."
Discouragement, criticism, and the withholding of approval are several eral other prime ways we can exasperate our children. A lot of it has to do with the need for us as parents to guard our tongues. The kid messes up and we say, "You dummy! Why are you so clumsy?" I've got to mention one more because it's a biggie in the 1990s: failure ure to sacrifice. By that I mean parents who send this message to their kids: "I need fulfillment now You're in my way." For a lot of modern parents, ents, their kids are in their way. They stop Dad and Mom from doing what they want to do. This one is convicting, so we'd better move on. Thankfully, Ephesians 6:4 has a flip side. If you're not to anger your children, what do you do? You do two things: You train and discipline them (same idea), and you instruct them. Train means you give them the rules with rewards and punishment. The expectations are clear, and you create an environment where the kids are helped to succeed, not set up to fail. Instruct is the inculcation of God's Word. Of course, this means we have to be in the Word and living the Word ourselves! Think About It Remember what Jesus said about bringing kids to Him? He said, "Don't hinder them." Kids will be drawn to Jesus if they see Jesus in their folks.
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