Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is
right. Honour thy father and mother;
which is the first Commandment with promise;
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the
earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your
children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. Ephesians, Chapter 6, verses 1-4.
This passage also goes both ways. Children are to be respectful of their
parents and to obey their rules. I think
all too many parents only focus on this part of the passage. They forget that they aren’t supposed to
provoke their children to wrath; instead they are to nurture them. This DOES mean that parents are to be
supportive of their children, which does NOT mean that they are to raise their
children by telling them how stupid they are and how they can’t do anything
right.
This DOES mean that parents are to appropriately
discipline their children, which does NOT mean that they are to take all their
frustrations out on their children, yelling at them, hitting them or sexually
abusing them. This DOES mean that
parents are to provide for their children’s physical and emotional needs and
well-being, which does NOT mean that they are supposed to ignore their child’s
basic needs. This DOES mean that parents
are to nurture their children, which does NOT mean overindulging them with
their every wish. This DOES mean that
parents are to set clear and appropriate rules, which does NOT mean being
harshly strict with them or being too lenient either. This DOES mean that it’s reasonable for
parents to expect children to do chores as a member of the household, but it
does NOT mean that they are to expect their children to do all the household
chores, or that the parents do everything for the child so the child never
develops a sense of responsibility.
The child, under the appropriate conditions set
forth in the Bible, is supposed to obey their parents, but the parent isn't to
provoke them to anger and is to nurture them.
In other words, the parents and the children are to work together in
mutual respect of one another and of God.
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.
