Valentine's Day: Why love for children is a commandment for all adults

Many parents think that they love their children. This is a common attitude amongst American parents, usually rearing its head as a means to control a child. As a child, I got told "I love you" as a justification for punishment. Most parents, in fact, do not love their children. God prescribes a special form of love for one's own child. Love is submission, and submission is love. 

Valentine's Day is here, and the original meaning of the holiday (lost in commercialism) involves the highest form of love - dying for your neighbor at the hands of a persecutor. Valentine was the first Christian to be martyred, with martyrdom being the highest expression of Christian love. You can celebrate Valentine's Day with your children, and show them how loving and loyal you are to them. Valentine's day is about Christian Agape love, or taking up the cross for someone else, namely your child.

Christian love for one's child is a commandment in the Bible. 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 in the law. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 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 two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

The Greek root word translated "love" here is αγαπαο (Latin: agapao) and refers to, in the context of parenting, prioritizing children first, and yourself last, to the point of dutiful and selfless submission as you would to God, expecting absolutely nothing in relation to God. True Love does not come from a place of pride or desire, but instead fearful conviction, where parents come to the conviction that they are depraved and decadent sinners deserving of absolutely nothing. This conviction leads to a sense of worthlessness in the sinner/parent, prompting the sinner/parent to earn their worth by doing good works. Children were loved in biblical times as the neighbor of adults, in a vulnerable way, and were seen as vulnerable appearances of God.

Parents are to be love their children and be submissive to them, just as mankind is to be submissive to God, with adults as the sworn enemy of children, just as mankind is the sworn enemy of God. In return, children are to rest safely and securely in the love and submission of parents. This is the Christian doctrine of mutual submission. 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. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, dutifully and selflessly submitting to children as they would God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as they would God.

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, stemming 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 punishments or controlling demeanor towards children. 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 that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up this legal context in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child.

Love is martyrdom, and martyrdom is love, with attachment parenting being the ultimate martyrdom for any parent towards their child. Children, in biblical times, wore absolutely no clothing, at all, until they became adults. Women only wore clothing outside the home, and otherwise went in the nude, in order to serve both their husbands and their children, separately. Mothers served their children by way of providing for them nourishment and sustenance, namely using attachment parenting items such as breastfeeding and skin-on-skin comfort. Children up until age 6 never left the side of mothers, ranging next to mothers when inside the house, sometimes clinging to her when crying or upset. Children who were crying or upset were reassured and comforted with skin-on-skin closeness and the words "this too will pass". When out and about, young children were wrapped up next to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets, suckling her teat if milk-dependent. By night, mothers co-slept next to children in skin-on-skin format, in order to forge a secure attachment with her children, and also guard them from all predatory threats, including the sexual entitlement of fathers. Fathers also formed a secure attachment with children, by way of witnessing skin-on-skin closeness between mother and child, with the father wanting in on the action through forming a sexual attachment to children, and imprinting on them through mastutbatory orgasm. This occasional sexual fantasy on the part of the father improved the father-child relationship, making it closer and more selfless on the part of the father. Fathers in biblical times related to their children like a human ragdoll, with the mother being the more sturdy parent. Actual child sexual abuse was rare next to non-existent in biblical times, with the sexual abuse of children being severely punished in both the Old and New Testament. In the New Testament, adult fornicators of children were excommunicated permanently, with no hope of forgiveness from the parish that they offended. 

So, find some special time with your child this Valentine's Day, since it is God's command to love everybody. This Valentine's Day, we celebrate the Christian gift of love, and this can include any love, in any relationship, that has Christian roots. Spend some quality time with your child, taking your child hand in hand, maybe snuggling with your child tonight. Loving affection and attention are core attachment needs, and Love is putting the needs of your child above your own. It is a Christian command to love your child as a vulnerable neighbor.

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!