Mutual submission in parenting: Why parents must show respect first

Most parents abuse children in this country, meaning 94% of parents physically batter their children, with 30% of infants under age 1 being punished at all. The core theme in discussions of child abuse prevention is the concept of "respect", meaning most abuse against children is due to parents perceiving "disrespect". 

The hierarchy of parenting has long been thought to be top-down, whereas it is actually across, with the parents owing things to the child instead. It says in Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, as this is the first commandment with promise; May it be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but brings them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Greek root word translate "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the care, support, and protection of parents, owing absolutely nothing to parents, with parents loving their child with Christian love, meaning αγαπαο (Latin: agapao) and refers to submission to the every need of a child as her enemy, just as mankind is the enemy of God, paying due penance by serving the needs of their children, sacrificing just as Christ did for His children, rendering themselves lower than the child while serving them, with shamefacedness and humility as a parent, expecting absolutely nothing in return.

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to the chastening of the Lord, meaning self-discipline and self-behaviorism in a parent, meaning rewarding and punishing oneself for how you treat your child. This can include tarring oneself in relation to their anger or sexual aggression in relation to their child. It is refusing to give in, and possibly redirecting parental control elsewhere. This also means exemplary teaching of discipline to children. The Greek root word translated "admonition" and denoting the admonition of the Lord is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and refers to roughly the word "no" or its various variants. Negative limits and boundaries should be set rarely, as many times, children need to be allowed to misbehave in a supervised fashion, as they are developmentally incapable of understanding the implication of their actions. Even with older children and teenagers, they may not "get it" concerning certain behaviors being harmful, so parents then should treat their older child or teen rebelling as a prodigal son, meaning you don't punish them for stubborn and rebellious habits. Such was the law in ancient Israel, but custom was different than law, where parents simply avoided the legal system, and prayed for the safe return of their sons from a life of crime and delinquency. The duty of a parent to set limits and boundaries is weighed by the Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and literally translates to "bringing out" and literally refers to the offenses, and is a key word lifting up the damage system, which is summed up in the New Testament as the slightest of personal slights perceived by the child. The Apostle Paul is referring to bringing out anger and resentment in children, meaning when you punish a child, you bring out that nature in them. In Col. 3:21, a similar word, ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) translates to "stirring up" and refers to stirring up anger and resentment in children through controlling or punishing them, thus damages imposed. Ultimately, the Apostle Paul is talking about a mirror effect in children, meaning you tend to bring out of a child what reflects your temperament around them. 

Parenting in the ancient Hebrew culture, including the Early Church (by policy - there were many lawbreakers among the Greek male converts) was attachment-based, meaning parents were best friends with their children, especially in the case of mothers, but fathers in another way, giving manly advice to sons as they grew older, reading the Law to sons and instructing them gently in it, in a homeschool setting where young boys were taught to think for themselves using Socratic method. Children were very close to parents, and co-sleeping with mothers was normative. Parents were generally seen not as authority figures, but servants and tools of God charged to care for their children in an attendant manner. Hebrew mothers viewed their children as a pro-social deacon to care for, with one being able to picture a woman always wearing a smile, letting her children lead her to what they needed. The father's role was to encourage from a distance, but also to protect. Every family had a sword, and fathers used the sword not against their children, but against any enemy who might break in, in order to defend his family. Punishing a child for anything was illegal, as punishment in that society only existed within a judicial setting, as a sentence for crime or as church discipline. Corporal punishment was not a form of church discipline in the Early Christian church. 

Parents must show respect to children before getting respect in return. Children indeed owe nothing to parents, but parents who are kind, compassionate, and helpful to the child with the child's consent can expect their child to respect and revere them, in a way that children learn to love and cherish mom and dad because mom and dad never punish them, and always listen and validate. So, children listen as a reward for that service to children.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will BURN! Let them languish in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, suffering the second death for all eternity! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!