Parenting seems like an impossible balancing act. On one hand, you don’t want to be harsh, overbearing, and cruel to your child. You want to show grace and mercy like God shows you.
But you also don’t want to spoil your child, turning them into a rotten person who feels entitled, yells to get their way, and needs to be pampered to be appeased.
So what does the Bible say about spoiling your child?
Have you ever taken hold of an idea that completely changes the way you view the world?
A paradigm is one’s theoretical views or beliefs that create one’s perceptions of the world, shaping the way one thinks and lives. A “paradigm shift” happens when a new idea or viewpoint changes the old way of seeing.
For example, people use to believe the earth was flat. This belief shaped the way they lived because they feared they would fall off the face of the planet if they traveled too far. This was their paradigm.
However, once the truth was revealed that the earth was round, a paradigm shift happened in the minds of men. It changed everything.
In the six days of creation, there is clearly a progression of intricacy happening. God starts general, making light, and then gets more detailed, finally making man.
It was a progression in revealing his own glory, for the glory of God is the visible manifestation of God’s beauty and character. When you see some intangible quality of God in a tangible way, it’s called “the glory of God.” That’s why, for example, when God would reveal himself in the Old Testament to the Israelites in a cloud or in fire it says the “glory of God” would appear (Exodus 24:15-18).
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4
Young children are so simple minded, but man can they create confusion in our lives. As fathers, obviously we are smarter, stronger, and more capable in every way than our young children. So why does it seem like they are always winning the war?
Well, maybe “war” is a bit strong. But all fathers of young children know there really are plenty of parenting battles throughout week, and it can be hard to know if we are doing a good job or not. Thankfully the Bible gives us some really specific advice on what our goals as fathers should be.
Ephesians 6:4 is one of the most specific verses given directly to fathers. So let’s unpack what Ephesians 6:4 means for fathers of young children.
The Medal of Honor is the highest military award in all the US Armed Forces. It is only given to those soldiers who have displayed the utmost gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty.
One such recipient was Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez for his heroics in the Vietnam War. On the morning of May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters into a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam. Their mission was to gather intelligence information in an area heavily patrolled by the North Vietnam Army (NVA). The highly trained team began taking heavy fire, became pinned down, and called for an extraction. The only way out was by helicopter, and after three attempts by pilots, the plight of these 12 men seemed more hopeless by the minute.