Ephesians 6:4 (CB)

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Parents (and especially, to fathers), Paul stressed the responsibility of the authority role. Bring them up. The Greek suggests the idea of helping to flourish ( 5:29 ). Parents are entrusted with nurturing the minds, emotions and bodies of tender bearers of God’s image. Accordingly, children are not born for the benefit or enjoyment of their parents, but parents are there for children—to help them come into their own personhood before God. [Training]The shaping of the will through discipline. [Instruction]The shaping of the mind through teaching. The purpose of parental discipline should be to help children grow into mature adults and Christians, not to exasperate and provoke them to anger or discouragement (Colossians 3:21). Parenting with love and discipline takes lots of patience and understanding. Frustration and anger should not be causes for discipline. Instead, parents should act in love, wisely treating their children as Jesus would treat them. Parents must also be diligent to give them the instruction and encouragement that is vital to their upbringing. If you are a parent, do you read the Bible to your children? Do you tell them the great stories of the heroic men and women of the faith who have gone before you? Do you pray for and with them daily? Do you take them to worship and lead them daily in family worship, and let them see how important your involvement in church is to you? Can they see the difference Christ makes in your life?