DON'T MAKE THEM MAD, DAD!
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph. 6:4, R.S.V.
Try thinking back to your own childhood. Can you ever remember a time when you got up in the morning, looked yourself in the mirror, and said, "I think that today I shall be rebellious"? Can you recall a time when you made a simple, perverse choice to be angry with your parents?
It is a principle that most children would rather be peaceful and happy than be angry and grim. Paul's premise in today's text--though painful for parents to admit--is that when a child is angry, it is quite possibly the parent's fault if the parent has dealt with the child in a way that reveals lack of respect for his rightful sense of freedom and individuality.
Quite often we parents want so badly for our children to obey that we goad them, badger them, even belittle them, in the name of discipline. Then when they respond as Paul predicts they will, we often add our children's anger to their list of crimes. We fail to recognize that rebellion is the inherent result of such an approach.
But that raises a serious question about why there are so many rebels against our heavenly Father. He has never acted toward us in a way that would goad us into anger. Even as He has dealt with our most serious sins. He has done so in a way that reveals respect for our self-esteem and protects our individuality. He has not sought to shame us into submission or overpower us with towering threats of retribution. Why, then, are so many people hostile against our gracious Father?
Jesus put His finger right on the problem when He said, "An enemy has done this" (Matt. 13:28, R.S.V.). Rebels are not hostile against God per se, but against the view of God that Satan has portrayed. And they have fallen for it, thinking that it is the real item! I can scarcely count the number of times I have spoken to persons who appear to be scampering out the back door of the church; yet as we talk about their reasons, they unfold a picture of God painted in dark, oppressive lines by the enemy himself. And they feel they have just cause to be angry with God.
Amazingly, God does not chastise His people for feeling that way about Him. Rather, He illuminates them!
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph. 6:4, R.S.V.
Try thinking back to your own childhood. Can you ever remember a time when you got up in the morning, looked yourself in the mirror, and said, "I think that today I shall be rebellious"? Can you recall a time when you made a simple, perverse choice to be angry with your parents?
It is a principle that most children would rather be peaceful and happy than be angry and grim. Paul's premise in today's text--though painful for parents to admit--is that when a child is angry, it is quite possibly the parent's fault if the parent has dealt with the child in a way that reveals lack of respect for his rightful sense of freedom and individuality.
Quite often we parents want so badly for our children to obey that we goad them, badger them, even belittle them, in the name of discipline. Then when they respond as Paul predicts they will, we often add our children's anger to their list of crimes. We fail to recognize that rebellion is the inherent result of such an approach.
But that raises a serious question about why there are so many rebels against our heavenly Father. He has never acted toward us in a way that would goad us into anger. Even as He has dealt with our most serious sins. He has done so in a way that reveals respect for our self-esteem and protects our individuality. He has not sought to shame us into submission or overpower us with towering threats of retribution. Why, then, are so many people hostile against our gracious Father?
Jesus put His finger right on the problem when He said, "An enemy has done this" (Matt. 13:28, R.S.V.). Rebels are not hostile against God per se, but against the view of God that Satan has portrayed. And they have fallen for it, thinking that it is the real item! I can scarcely count the number of times I have spoken to persons who appear to be scampering out the back door of the church; yet as we talk about their reasons, they unfold a picture of God painted in dark, oppressive lines by the enemy himself. And they feel they have just cause to be angry with God.
Amazingly, God does not chastise His people for feeling that way about Him. Rather, He illuminates them!
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