FAITH CONNECTION FOR TODAY 

Continuing on how important it is to live our faith as exsample to our children, grandchildren and families.

Kids are unpredictable. Their brains are still 

developing. They haven’t had the benefit of 

experience to give them perspective. Oh, how we 

wish that God or even the hospital had given out a 

detailed instruction manual for these little people, 

but, unfortunately, that isn’t the case. The practical role of being a parent or being in charge of a young person has many challenges.

Gratefully, God does give us some specific 

instruction about parenting. As Paul is wrapping 

up the letter to the Ephesians, he throws in a 

couple practical action points for parents and 

children. Children are instructed to “obey” and 

“honor” their parents (Ephesians 6:1–2). Fathers 

(and mothers too) are advised to “not provoke 

your children to anger, but bring them up in the 

discipline and instruction of the Lord” (v. 4). 

Every parent knows that there is a myriad of ways 

to evoke anger from even the tiniest human. This 

passage is not talking about a child’s fleeting 

moment of anger because there was crust on 

a sandwich. Paul is telling parents to avoid 

continually stirring up anger in such a way that 

leads to discouragement. We are not to beat down 

our children until they obey, but we are to build 

them up, while we pray for God to transform them 

from the inside.

Our tendency to provoke anger in our children 

often stems from our own expectations and our 

desire to control our kids. Perhaps we expect 

them to be more like a sibling, or we wish they’d 

perform better academically or athletically. Maybe  we just want them to stop acting like a hyena and go to bed. Often, we want to place the focus on their obedience or lack, instead of on our parental tendency to provoke. How can we make ourselves aware of those unspoken expectations we want our kids to live up to?

To raise up a child is a high calling. It is one 

parents take seriously and handle with care. We 

need to put a priority on teaching our children the 

truth about God and the gospel of Jesus. Above 

all, we are called to show grace and kindness to 

our children, just as Christ has shown us.

Make a FAITH CONNECTION with your family