Children are blessings from God. Christian parents are to bring up their children in the Lord. This is God's instruction through Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Although Apostle Paul is addressing fathers in this verse, mothers are also included. Fathers are the representatives of the leadership of the Christian home. And this is a significant role of the father in the home. The father ministers to his children, together with the mother, to ensure that the children are brought up in God’s way.

The word “provoke” (Eph 6:4) means to cause anger, and to create some form of resentment. Some fathers in the Corinthian church were causing their children to sinful anger, possibly through jealousy, envy, pride, etc. When there are more than one child in the family, parents may unknowingly create unnecessary tension between their children. Problems usually arise when one parent favours one child over the rest. Joseph and his brothers are biblical examples of sibling rivalry. Their father Jacob favours Joseph above the others. Sibling rivalry can be so serious that the grudge and hatred between siblings may result even in killing. Parents play a significant role in the bringing up of their children in the Lord. The word “nurture” (Eph 6:4) contains the idea of education, and the cultivation of the whole being including the mind, heart, passion, value, etc. “Admonition” means counsel, exhortation and correction. Nurturing and admonition must be done in God’s way. No child is perfect. When a child commits a mistake, he must be corrected and shown what the right thing to do is before God. Note that the child is not to be brought up after the parents’ own ideas or even their best thoughts for the child. It must always be by “the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” God’s Word is to be the guide for Christian parents in the bringing up of their children.

Many parents, however, have the fear of losing out or lagging behind others. This fear and worldly mentality affect even Christian parents, and they are won over to the world’s methods of bringing up their children. Their fear leads them to push their children to the world, but the world will only destroy their children. The price to pay is high. We must pray for Christian parents today that they will not be seduced by the attractions of the world and become worldly parents. Pray that they will be wise to be spiritual instructors of their own children. Leading their children to salvation in Christ and helping them to grow spiritually is the best gift Christian parents can give their children.

Christian parents must seriously impart to their children Christian values and the way of godly living according to God's Word. They must know what true success in life is. It is not measured by dollars and cents, or one’s social position, or one’s possessions (the number of properties, cars, etc). True success in life is measured by God’s standard of holiness and righteousness. May God help those of us who are parents, and may He be merciful to our children. Amen.