Rule from beneath: How children influenced adult decisions from a submissive role in biblical times

Many parents think children should simply yield to their authority, assuming they have universal authority over a child. Most parents in America in modern days are authoritative parents, meaning basically parents who are punitive in a democratic way. I had punitive authoritative parents, and I had the darndest time winning them over, but I did, and I survived, with trauma in tow.

Christian love is the centerpiece of a Christian parenting relationship, and is denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao), which refers to putting children first, and yourself as a parent last, in a convicted way leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every vulnerable need, expecting absolutely nothing in return from children or others, with children resting in the safety and security of parents. 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 "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. This form of respect does not come from fearful compliance, but from restful trust in the love and grace of parents, with children telling parents anything and everything on their mind, including admissions of wrongdoing, expecting absolutely no punishment or reprisal in return. Attachment parenting was the norm in biblical times. Think a Christian mother holding pales of water, with the mother wrapping up a young child close to her bosom in swaddling blankets, and an older child strapped to her back in a papoose bag. Boil over, then safe. That was the parenting then.  

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or abuse, including child abuse in this context. Child abuse is defined as the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by the child. In this commandment, the Apostle Paul is lifting up the Law on punishment and controlling demeanor towards children, rebuking Greek Christians who brought their pagan custom of spanking children into the church, using the book of Proverbs as an excuse for their abuse even then. Paul was making it clear that Proverbs is mainly wisdom literature, not a book on parenting. Paul was, in fact, anti-spanking and opposed punishing a child for any reason, as flawed as he was.

Children had much influence over the decisions of adults, having much lobbying power to convict them of their needs. Children had every right to demand things from parents, and even make lawful and binding orders. Parents simply gave in and gave up, surrendering to the self-advocated needs of their children, heeding their demands and orders. Parents were like waitstaff in a restaurant - attendant to children and taking orders for their children.

Children then were seen as godly figures, but in a flawed way that was endearing, meaning children were doted on for their mischevious flaws, and children then did in fact cause mischief. Think running around the house, breaking things, making messes, and parents just laughed along and cleaned up later. Children then, from there, demanded things from parents. Parents, at the end of their rope, didn't get angry, but instead cried.

Parents in Ancient Israel and the Early Church were incapable of parent anger, and that is because children went naked everywhere they went. The nudity of the children lowered the level of attachment down to equal level, and made the decisions of parents especially very dependent on the needs/wants of children, with children demanding things from parents, and parents being passive in providing for children, to the point of pro-social pushover, where parents were a pushover for the needs of children, not wants, based on the expressed wants of children. When a child expresses a want, the want is always related to a need. 

There are five categories of needs self-advocated by children; food, water, shelter, transportation, and attachment - and the greatest is attachment. A quick way to deal with the crying of a child, when they cry for seemingly no reason, is for a mother to place them on the top of her bosom for comfort. That's what a child needs when they cry out of nowhere - they are self-advocating for attachment needs. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast into the ever-burning 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!