Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” — “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Over and over I meet children with fathers that have provoked them to the point of anger and despair. One young teen’s father would make the boy stand at attention while he screamed in his face for committing some minor infraction. The son became withdrawn and depressed.
I have used two passages of Scripture for today. Each one cautions fathers about the way they discipline their children. In Ephesians, Paul cautions fathers not to embitter their children. In the Colossians they are instructed not to exasperate them. The fact that Paul warns fathers twice in this manner suggests to me that we fathers are prone to do that.
The Greek word for embitter in Ephesians 6:4 is parorgizo. It means to rouse to wrath, exasperate, provoke or anger. The word exasperate as found in Colossians 3:21 is erethizo. It means stirup, stimulate or provoke.
Now is the time for Christian fathers to open their eyes to how much damage they can do to their children by their behavior. My prayer is that we will learn to live by the example in Proverbs 22:6: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
Hey dad, have you started yet?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil