Fear your child: Why children should be feared reverently

Many parents believe children should fear them, meaning children should live in anxiolytic fear of parents. Anxiety of any kind is unhealthy, but reverent fear is. I fear children, but I am not afraid, just as I fear God, but am not afraid of Him. Children are extensions of God to fear and revere with God's reverent fear.

Reverent fear in the Bible is denoted by the Greek root word ψοβός (Latin: phobos) and refers to a low-level fear that nonetheless drives you to righteous action and attitudes, meaning the low-level fear that leads to conviction. It is fear of doing the wrong thing and dishonoring or harming God or your neighbor, in a way thar prompts the Christian to righteousness. It is God setting order in His courtroom. Love is motivated by reverent fear, and is denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao), which is reverent fear, leading to conviction to surrender to the every need of children. 

The doctrine of mutual surrender is God's order for parents and children. It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to trust in parents. Replace "obey" with "trust" and you come to a roughly better conclusion. This refers to a special form of trust, namely one borne out of maternal warmth and trust. Attachment parenting was the normative style of parenting in biblical times, and involved children being swaddled to mothers most times with swaddling bands, with children up until adulthood wrapped up in their mother's bosom, nourishing children in skin-to-skin closeness, with children up to age 3 seen as infants and breastfed as such, with breastfeeding by mothers allowed everywhere. Parents reverently feared their children, being struck with fear and reverence for their children by the child's vulnerability, with children being an extension of God appointed to lay down the law that is their needs. A child's needs, as stated by the child, are a lawful and binding order.

Parents feared the wrath of children enough not to provoke them to anger. The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to provocations to anger, meaning any and all offenses against children, as defined as the slightest of personal offenses perceived by the child, stemming from parental entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul to prohibit any punitive parenting, meaning any punishment or control, including any sort of corporal punishment. Paul was rebuking the punitive parenting customs of Greek Christians, who held onto their idolatrous traditions of punishing and controlling children. Punishment of children was legally defensible under Roman law, but was seen as kidnapping under Jewish law, meaning the Law saw striking or punishing a child as taking them hostage. Corporal punishment only existed in the Old Testament, and only for ADULT children. Minor children were seen as incompetent to stand trial, and thus were not culpable for their actions or attitudes in relation to adults. 

Children were not seen in ancient Israel and adjoining churches like they are today. They were not "innocent", meaning forced into a societal role of innocence, but seen as convicting extensions of God to be feared and revered, with their every need striking reverent fear and terror into parents, prompting them to surrender to children and righteously give in to their every demand and petition for needs and a redress of grievances. Children could disagree openly with parents, and they did it good, and they did it in a way that convicted their parents. Parents were meek and attendant in relation to their children, being grateful for their children, expecting absolutely nothing in return from children. Think a shaky voice and a smile as children demanded more and more. Demanding things was expected of children then, so it was tolerated, with the loving example of parents only setting in once they got older.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger 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! Let them descend into the abyss that is the Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath for all eternity! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!