Children are blessings from God. If you have had the pleasure of contributing to a child’s life in any way, your reward will be in heaven. Parents, as well as children, were given a direct command from God. This command was given with a promise.

Ephesians 6:1 began by saying, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. As a parent, I proudly said those words to my children the second that they leaned toward disobeying my words. I was hoping that one day, it would come to their remembrance and they would automatically think about their actions first. If you were to ask one of my children about this scripture, I am sure they know it by heart.

Ephesians 6:2 goes on to say, “Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. Sometimes there is conflict in the family. There are so many children of divorce, including mine. As a parent, it is wise to speak positively about the other parent to the children. Divorce and single parenting is a reality that we must to deal with for now. Co-parenting is the ideal situation. When we have children involved, we must keep the children first. This will teach them to honour both parents.

This was not an option for children. It was a commandment from God. It came with a promise. For a child, this is a difficult task for many. They automatically think that they know everything, not understanding that they are still learning and need the love and guidance from their parents. The promise in verse 3 is as follows: That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

This promise was enough for me to constantly attempt to correct my children with discipline. The harder they pulled, the harder I pushed because I was aware of the promise of God. Every parent wants the best for their children. They want their children to have a long and blessed life.

The next verse, Ephesians 6:4 says, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. This verse briefly discusses expectations of a parent. Most mothers are automatically nurturers. Regardless of what the child does, mothers are the first one to welcome them back with open arms. If the child takes a fall, the mother is the one who more that likely will take time to baby the child. This scripture admonishes the father to be a nurturer. This scripture is not actually talking about the same kind of nurturing that a mother gives. The father is to spend quality time with the child and teach them about the Lord.

The mother should not be the only one that teaches the child about the God that they serve. Children learn many things by watching their parents. Parents teach their children, not only by the words from their mouths, but also from the things that they do. Provoke not your children to wrath. Watch what you say and how you say it. This is the first job of the parent. Teach them how to obey so that they will not have a problem obeying the Holy Spirit, and things will be well with them.

Be Blessed