There are few blogs that I like and then, there are even fewer that I love. One of the ones that I love is
www.raisinggodlychildren.org
This blog just keeps truths in front of me that remind me
the importance of training up my boys in the Word of God. We talk a
great deal about grace, truth and sin in our house. We try to be
quick to confess our sin when we wrong one another,
but one sin that is not mentioned enough by me to our family is the
issue of provoking our children to wrath. I do this more than I want to
admit because sarcasm can be my second language - not only when just
hanging out having fun, but even in my correction at
times. This sarcasm can breed anger in my children, but there are also
other ways that we can provoke wrath; the blog below helps with bringing
this seldom mentioned sin to our attention.
http://www.
How To Provoke Your Children To Anger
Fathers,
do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the
discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
I was thinking
about this today as I prepared for a parenting class. Here are some
ways that we parents can provoke our children to anger. I’ve done many
of these, and for this reason I’m grateful for the blood of Jesus and
the power of the Spirit to change.
We can provoke our children to anger:
- By constantly criticizing them and not encouraging them. When they feel they can never please us enough.
- By having double standards – Do as I say, not as I do. Expecting them to do things we don’t do, e.g. ask forgiveness, humble themselves, etc.
- By anger and harshness
- By a lack of affection
- By telling them what to do or not do without giving Biblical reasons (e.g., Do it because I said to do it, or because it’s just wrong).
- By being offended at their sin because it bothers us, not because it offends God.
- By comparing them to others (Why can’t you act like your sister?)
- By hypocrisy – acting like a Christian at church but not at home
- By embarrassing them (correcting, mocking or expressing disappointment in them in front of others)
- By always lecturing them and never listening to them
- By disciplining them for childishness or weakness, not for sin
- By failing to ask their forgiveness when we sin against them
- By pride – failing to receive humble correction from our spouses or our children when we sin.
- By self-centered reactions to their sin (How could you do this to ME?)
- By ungracious reactions to their sin (What were you thinking? Why in the world would you do that?)
- By forgetting that we were (and are) sinners (I would NEVER have done that when I was your age).
- By having double standards – Do as I say, not as I do. Expecting them to do things we don’t do, e.g. ask forgiveness, humble themselves, etc.
- By anger and harshness
- By a lack of affection
- By telling them what to do or not do without giving Biblical reasons (e.g., Do it because I said to do it, or because it’s just wrong).
- By being offended at their sin because it bothers us, not because it offends God.
- By comparing them to others (Why can’t you act like your sister?)
- By hypocrisy – acting like a Christian at church but not at home
- By embarrassing them (correcting, mocking or expressing disappointment in them in front of others)
- By always lecturing them and never listening to them
- By disciplining them for childishness or weakness, not for sin
- By failing to ask their forgiveness when we sin against them
- By pride – failing to receive humble correction from our spouses or our children when we sin.
- By self-centered reactions to their sin (How could you do this to ME?)
- By ungracious reactions to their sin (What were you thinking? Why in the world would you do that?)
- By forgetting that we were (and are) sinners (I would NEVER have done that when I was your age).
May God give us gracious, gentle, humble, affectionate hearts toward our children.
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