Shut up in the Lord: A sign of going in the right direction

Many people think of gentle parenting ideas as simply playing with children "instead of parenting them". Common things known about our parenting is the "gentle parenting voice". Mine is the right one - a shy, shaky voice that shows submission to the child in question.

The Greek root word denoting entitlement in the New Testament, and cross-referencing the Tenth Commandment, is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and, officially, refers to parental entitlement, or wanting things from or of children to the point of imposition. Unofficially, this refers to wanting anything from children. Ask, and you shall receive from your child, if their development allows. Demand, and you get nothing but resentment from a child. Ask humbly from children, and rarely. Solve your problems without children helping you, as that's not why they are there - they are there to be helped, meaning supported and nurtured, taught by example in the Lord. Entitlement leads to theft, meaning any offense perceived by the child as abuse. See 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 "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or abuse, namely the slightest of personal offenses perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by the child. This refers, in reverse flipside, to the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself, applied with children being one's neighbor. The Apostle Paul here was lifting up the Law for punitive parents of Greek descent who brought the punitive parenting traditions of Greco-Roman society into the church. Penalties for punishing a child, under the Law, were very steep and severe, and such was seen as deserving of death in the Old Testament. Punitive parents in the Early Church were excommunicated from the Christian churches of God. The rod verses do not have anything to do with spanking children, but a dated form of judicial corporal punishment - the 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction. These verses are repealed verses, meaning they only have application to the context in which the context was given.

Christian love means silence. Love in the Bible is putting children first, and yourself last, to the point of meek and shamefaced submission to children, with children resting safely and securely in this submission, denoted by the English word "obey" and the corresponding Greek root word υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. Such means shutting up, and letting the children speak. Let the children shout in your face like morning breath, and then comply once they shout orders in your face. Parents are tools to be used for the child's own sake, from conception up until age 18. That's all you are as a parent - a tool or vehicle for your child to use for their own good. That's how parents were seen in biblical times.

Parents feared angering their child. Think teeth chattering. A parent then who provoked their children too much got their hands slapped from their 5-year-old, and society then took the side of the child over the parent. A parent's voice in biblical time likely was not booming or earth-shattering, but shaky and vulnerable, in a way most children found non-threatening enough to listen to when they understood the instructions they were given. Many times, children didn't understand the instructions given, and so children were left go, and were kept safe. Parents only came down with clear instructions for safety's sake in most instances, and otherwise only said "no" to wants that were totally unattainable, and could not be dealt with by compromise with the child.

What is the proper way to address a child? Look down, but in a shaky, reverent voice that is meek and shamefaced in nature. Adults are to be ashamed of themselves and their existence in relation to children, convicted fearfully and reverently of their ability to harm their children even with the wrong choice of words, so choose your words carefully around children, because words have a big impact on them. Adults have no right to even exist in relation to a child, and so adults should be grateful for even being in the presence of a child. I myself am grateful simply for being around children, whenever I can, and am entitled to nothing else from children.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their 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 which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!