Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
–Colossians 3:21
When it comes to disciplining your children, do you ever find yourself majoring in minors?
Parents have to be very careful not to break a child’s spirit by constantly finding fault, nagging, and criticizing. In discipline, you and I are to be reasonable, right, respectful, and real.
Now I’m not saying that you should be lacking in discipline. Yes, you should establish firm, age-appropriate guidelines for your children. And sometimes correction and consequences are a part of parenting.
But, many kids are hassled and provoked because parents worry about things that don’t mean anything. Some parents are more interested in pushing their kids to the top of the success ladder at school or in athletics than seeing them succeed spiritually. Are you guilty?
According to our verse today, we are not to “provoke” our children. Don’t worry so much about the things that have little impact on eternity, on their moral character, or on their spiritual strength. We shouldn’t push our children to succeed because of our own failures. Nor should we use our children to compete against others.
Today I want to ask you to take inventory. When it comes to parenting, are you majoring on the minors… or majoring on what’s most important?
TAKE INVENTORY OF THE PRIORITIES YOU HAVE FOR YOUR CHILDREN. IS THEIR SPIRITUAL CHARACTER ON THE LIST?
