Oh yea; Wives and children of parents, what do you think that Colossians 3:21 means?

Question

No husbands allowed to answer.

Answer 1

It means to be loving and patient; to use a more reward-driven parenting style than one of negative reinforcement. Don't harp on all the bad because you don't want to break your child's spirit.

Answer 2

I have a feeling he's posting these questions to get people to go read the bible. LOL!

Colossian 3:18-25
Rules for a Christian Household

18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Answer 3

hi: sweety,this scripture means exaclly what it says.Father's do not provoke your children ,least they become discouraged.exsample:let's say your son get's involved in something that his father beleaves could be unhealthy for him,where he's alway's on his case about it til it provokes him to anger and just keeps on him over and over again,that will so discourage him and he will faint in his heart an loose not only faith ,but also his ability to trust his father.why,because this will cause him to think that nomatter what he does it's never going to be good enough or right in his father's eyes.(he'll be discouraged).you know my father did this to us kids when we were young,he would hound us nomatter what we did ,it was never right to the point that we were so discouraged that
1.we quit going to church
2.we had no confidence in ourselves
3.and when we became adults,for the longest time and some of my bro and sis,are still full of anger and even hatred.but you know i have learned to forgive my dad seeing mom told me after he died that dad had a metal plate in his head from being shot in war,even though at the time i said to her that the damage was .already done.Fathers please don't provoke your children .

Answer 4

It means that when children are disciplined, you do it without putting them down or seriously injuring them. A father's job is to lift up their child with words of praise and encouragment and, yes discipline and correction when needed.

A father's word(s) and actions can seriously damage a child and God is saying be very careful in how you treat your children because they are precious to me and should be to you, as well.

Answer 5

Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart.

Stop criticising or you'll take away any self-belief that children have.

Answer 6

"Fathers, do not provoke your children"

"Fathers" in this context means parents.

The word "provoke" means to exasperate, to become disheartened and hence lack motivation, to become discouraged, to be disheartened. Parents are not to exasperate their children. "Provoke" carries the idea of bitter, irritate. Ephesians used a different Greek word meaning exasperate (Eph. 6:4).

Parents can provoke their children by perpetual censure or fretful anger. They may nag their children about inconsequential things. They rub them the wrong way.

Parents possess authority in their role. God does not want them to exercise uncontrolled authority. Sever discipline makes children bitter and exasperates their personhood. Poor judgment in the exercise of authority hinders the development of their children.

This does not mean that the parent is never to do anything that might irritate their children. Discipline often irritates children. The word "irritate" is in the continuous tense in the Greek. "Do not keep on irritating your children." If parents nag their children it will dampen their spirits.

PRINCIPLE: If parents irritate their children they will demotivate them; if they commend them they will encourage and strengthen them.

APPLICATION: Here are some principles that may help parents avoid exasperating their children:

Too little discipline causes exasperation.

o Unannounced rules make known after the child breaks them causes exasperation.
o exasperation is caused by too many rules; a rule should be followed through the stated punishment
o rules should be clearly stated; rules should not come out of disaster
o under discipline is caused by divided authority
o under discipline creates frustration resulting in yelling and other false systems of correction

Too much discipline causes frustration as well. Some Christians over react to the permissiveness of society and flaunt authority to their children.

Unfair punishment causes exasperation. When a parent fails to distinguish what a child must learn on his own and what must be enforced as a rule, the parent will punish the child capriciously.

Withdrawal of affection causes exasperation in the child. There must be a balance between discipline and love. All discipline should be done in love and not out of personal injury. Discipline is not the same as punishment. Discipline seeks the welfare of the child in correction.

Sentimentality, not love, withholds discipline. If we do not believe in discipline we do not believe in standards and judgment.

Discipline strengthens the moral bonds between parent and child. Sentimentality thinks that fear and love cannot coexist together (Dt. 6:4,5,13).

5. Parents must not simply threaten as a way of discipline.

o Discipline should be an event. This ends scolding, nagging and swatting.
o Discipline brings a spirit of authority to the home.
o Discipline maintains an atmosphere of stability in the home.
o Discipline should be reserved for disobedience, not discord. Rebellion to authority is the issue.

6. After discipline, express forgiveness to the child.

Obedience has to do with outlook.

Parents are to encourage their children. Ephesians warns against discouraging our children. Discouragement means to lose heart. It is important to give the child a sense of belonging, worth and confidence. They need to understand their needs and fears. Children need supervision and help.

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"lest they become discouraged"

The word "discouraged" means to become disheartened and hence lack motivation. This is the only occurrence of this word in the New Testament. One of the reasons for rebellion in some teenagers is that they are discouraged by most of things they have done in life. They have not had much encouragement from their parents.

God wants us to encourage our children. He wants us to praise them for what they do right. Constant criticism will discourage them. They may become disheartened in their attempts to please their parents.

There are two ways to ruin children in a hurry.

1. Some parents make children feel guilty for something they are not doing. That is no way to get your way in anything much less with our children. This tampers with the soul of the child. Instead of operating on proper norms for life, children will operate on guilt feelings. These children will grow up with guilt complexes. It is important to control children without making them feel guilty.

2. Other parents nag their children for just about everything. They will nag about any little thing...nag, nag, nag. When a big issue comes the child will not hear the parent because he is dulled by constant nagging. When the big issue comes the parent has to shout so loud the child cannot hear them. This is especially true with teenagers. "Comb your hair Susie! Comb..." When the big issue comes she will not hear her parent. It is the same old stuff. She will not pay her parent any attention. Some parents are natural born naggers. They lose all effectiveness in parenting.

PRINCIPLE: God's primary role for the parent is to encourage their children.

APPLICATION: Parents, are you encouraging your children?

If parents sit around and have roast preacher for supper, children will understand the parents view of the church. We wonder why children do not respect the pastor or the church. All they ever hear about the church is what is wrong with the church. When they get old enough they will not want to become involved with an outfit like that. They see the hypocrisy of the parents because they have listened to the criticism of the parent for so long. Their parents criticized the board, the staff and the music program. Children absorb this. They grow cynical of the church. Then they drop out.

All the weeping in the world will not change it. By the time our children reach their teens there is little we can say to bring them back. If you still have little ones around, be careful how you criticize God's servants and God's church. Those little ears are listening. We put a great deal of time in those little lives. To have them grow up and reject Christianity, how ironic! If they go on to reject Christ, marry an unbeliever, we will look back and say, "Was it worth it to criticize the cause of Christ?"

Answer 7

I happen to agree with it......A father has all the power to make or break a child

Answer 8

I don't happen to have that verse handy. Could you copy what it says for our interpretation?