Fear your child: Why parents should fear their child reverently

Many parents believe that their children should fear them. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents want to be feared by their children, and this fear is enforced by imposing punishments and controlling demeanor onto children. The fact of the matter is that the Bible does not condone this type of parenting, when understood in context. The Bible commands reverent fear of children by parents.

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 all thy soul, and all thy mind. This is the first and great comamndment. 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.

This passage can be applied to parenting, and was during the days of the Early Church. The Greek root word translated "love" 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 to children as you would to God, expecting absolutely nothing in return. True Love does come from pride, but from fear, as denoted by the Greek root word φοβός (Latin: phobos) and refers to coming to a fearful conviction that one is a depraved and decadent sinner who is deserving of absolutely nothing. This creates a sense of worthlessness in the sinner/parent, prompting the sinner/parent to perform good works in order to earn their worth. They felt parched and worthless, prompting them to perform good works for their children.

Parents revered their children, knowing their worthless place, putting children on a pedestal in order to meet their every vulnerable need. Children, in return, rested safely and securely in the love and submission 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. 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 to God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children safely and securely resting in the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as vulnerable extensions of God.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of offensive touch or speech 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 a child. 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, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict 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 to any and all punishment of a child. Paul advocated for children repeatedly in his writings, more than any other biblical writer. 

Parents in biblical times loved their children by putting them up on a pedestal, and deeming themselves worthless, meaning they were convicted of their depraved and decadent sin nature, and this sense of worthlessness prompted parents to serve their children. Children were seen as vulnerable appearances of God, meaning vulnerable extensions of God, and were revered as such. Submission to children came from beneath, yet from above, prompted by parents being struck with reverent fear and terror. Parents feared the wrath of their children, meaning they crying and upset, in a way that prompted them to serve the needs of children in such situation. 

Children, in biblical times, were seen as vulnerable appearances of God, meaning it was believed that God appeared in children, in order to judge righteously the charity and good will of adults. Parenting manuals in the Early Church clearly stated that whatever you did for children, you did for God. Conversely, whatever you didn't do for children, you didn't do for God. Ancient Jewish culture, including Early Christian culture, was a child worshipping culture, not a child enslaving culture. Children were put up on a pedestal, in a reverent and fearsome way, with parents not wanting to make children mad at all. Daughters were seen by fathers in particular as sex goddesses, in an abstinent way that put her on a pedestal, in a fearsome and reverent way, in a whole other way than how mothers put daughters on a pedestal. Parents submitted dutifully and fearfully to their child, from beneath yet from above, meaning children were seen as the bigger, more powerful person, for being the smaller person. Children could easily order around parents, and demand things from parents in a way that would clearly be seen as disrespectful by today's conventional standards. Parents were told in the parenting manuals that they were worthless, and that their child had all the worth in the world, so care for them since they are worth it. Parents then earned their worth in the process.

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!