Discipline: Why parents need discipline (not children)

Many parents think their children need discipline, and then impose discipline onto children. This is a common myth. Children do not need to be disciplined in order to survive. Parents must be disciplined and chastened up in the Lord in relation to children, not the other way around, and be the sturdy rock for their children.

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 this is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long upon the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to the Christian attitude of non-entitlement, meaning parents are entitled to nothing from children, and are to be grateful for the every joy that children bring to parents and other adults, with children owing nothing to parents, and parents owing everything to children, expecting absolutely nothing in return, being chastened up in the Lord. This chastisement and discipline in the Lord should be a good example for children, with parents being a child's first role models. The Greek root word translated "admonition" is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and refers to setting limits and boundaries in children, meaning parental instruction in an agreed-upon way that confers cooperation from children, warning children in rare instances that they are going astray. This is weighed by the Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" which is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers to provocations to anger, meaning all offenses against children, with "offense" being defined as the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child. This was intended by the Apostle Paul and the legal context he was writing to as a prohibition of punishment and control in parenting, meaning all punitive parenting, including spanking and corporal punishment. "Reasonable force" as a legal defense comes from Roman law, not Jewish law. Jewish law, in the Old Testament, only allowed corporal punishment as a punishment for a crime, usually a capital offense, with the whipping being a warning that any recidivism could result in death if discovered. Only ADULT children could be whipped or executed. Christ abolished all capital and corporal punishment by enduring such as a Sacrifice for His children.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to trust and rest in parents. Replace "obey" with "trust" and you come to a roughly better translation in Eph. 6:1-3. This refers to a special kind of trust borne out of maternal warmth and sustenance. Attachment parenting was the norm in ancient Israel and adjoining churches, with children up to age 3 being seen as infants and treated as such behaviorally. Children co-slept next to their mothers especially until adulthood and even into adulthood. Such sustaining warmth prepared children, like a home base, for respecting parents later in life, and then honoring them. It is a tag-along form of compliance, not a fearful one, and it is how I feel about my attachment-parenting mother and late father. With my mother especially, I feel like I am tagging along, in a comforting way that involves me feeling secure and safe around her. I just listen, like instinct, and only question later. It is an attitude of being led by parents and being safe in accepting their leadership, and leading them other times to what you need/want. Parents are your servant, and you want to reward them in some way as an adult, and that is honor.

Children need discipline, but not in an imposed way. Parents need to chasten themselves up, and that involves enduring hardship as a parent, perhaps that which is imposed by your child, expecting nothing from your child, meaning no reward. It says in Hebrews 12:11 KJV:

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The Greek root word translated "grievous" is λυπέ (Latin: lupe) and refers not to physical pain, but the mental anguish that comes with parenting, meaning the rough patches that feel exhausting and sometimes upsetting. The Greek root word translated "chastening" is the same as translated "nurture" in Eph. 6:4, which is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to the result of such struggles, meaning the fruit of righteousness, in which discipline as a parent is.

The depraved and entitled parents will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them BURN in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!