What is love?: Why most parents don't love their children

I myself was punished and abused "in the name of love". My late father would, in my formative years, spanked me and punished me "out of love", following the advice of pro-spanking doctor John Rosemond. Most American parents do not beat or bludgeon their children, meaning leave marks when punishing their children. Most American parents simply see punishment as an act of "love".

It says in Matthew 22:35-40 KJV:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the greatest commandment of the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and all thy heart, and all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The Greek root word translated "love" in these commandments is αγαπαο (Latin: agapao) and refers to, in the context of parenting, prioritizing your child first, and yourself last, to the point of dutiful and selfless submission to the every vulnerable need of your child, expecting absolutely nothing in return. True Love does not come from pride or desire, but a place of fearful conviction, where you as a parent come to the conclusion that you are a depraved and decadent sinner deserving of absolutely nothing from your child or anyone else. Children were considered the neighbor of their parents in biblical times. The point of parenting is to love your child, meaning submit to them. Love is submission, and submission is love.

Parents are to submit to the every vulnerable need of their child, just as they would God. Children then are to rest in the wake of parental submission. It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: as 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. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of their parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, sacrificing for their children, just as Christ Sacrificed for His children on the cross, with children being a Godhead for parents to serve, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents, owing absolutely nothing in return to parents. Parents are the enemy of children, just as mankind is the enemy of God, with parents being subservient to them just as they are to Him, expecting absolutely nothing in relation to children.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, coming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any form of punishment or controlling demeanor. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things they did wrong, thus treating them as a slave instead of a child. Paul here was lifting up this legal context to a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child.

Children, in biblical times, wore no clothing, at all, until they became adults. Women only wore clothing outside the home, otherwise going in the nude, in order to serve their husbands and their children, separately. Mothers served their children by way of providing for them nourishment and sustenance, namely breastmilk (until age 3) and skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy, respectively. The core aspect of Christian attachment parenting in the 1st Century was skin-on-skin co-sleeping, with mother and child fast asleep by nightfall, snuggling next to each other in the nude, in total bliss! By day, children ranged beside mothers, sometimes clinging to their mother. When mothers went out and about for errands, children were held close to the bosom of their mothers with swaddling blankets, with children up until age 6 never leaving the embrace of their mother. Children went in the nude so that their mother could easy snuggle and cuddle them up in skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy, co-snuggling with their children in the nude.

Submission to children, in biblical times, involved serving children by giving them nourishment and sustenance, especially skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy. Mothers served the every cry, whine, and demand of a child. When the child simply was crying for attention, they were given the attention they needed. Crying was not seen as a child "undermining" their parents, but as a cry for assistance. Children did cry quite a bit more than they do today, but only for their parents did they cry, and only because they needed something from their parents. Children were prioritized as coming first, with the needs of parents coming last, to the point of dutiful and selfless submission to the every vulnerable need of children, with parents living in full subjection to their child's every cry and need, providing no matter what.

Love is submission, and submission is love. If you do not submit to your child, you do not love your child. Love isn't simply feeding or clothing children. The bare necessities are not enough to love your child. Children have five basic categories of needs; food, water, shelter, transportation, and attachment - and the greatest of these is attachment. If you do not submit to your child, and have a secure attachment to your child, then you do not love your child. If you punish your child or abuse them in any way, then you hate your child, and deserve to die the second death, which is ever-burning Hell-fire.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be forever cast into 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!