Righteous pampering: Why God wants parents to pamper their children

Many parents think that pampering children is the "wrong" thing to do. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents want to be seen as being hard on a child, as this is the American norm amongst parents. Many parents cite Scripture for being so hard on children. The fact of the matter is that the Bible teaches that God wants you as the parent to pamper your child.

Righteous pampering is a part of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission, and is a way for parents to earn respect from children later on. 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 submission of parents. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul as lifting up the customary law that commanded a secure attachment between parent and child in the family home. This secure attachment comes from parent submission, where parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, expecting absolutely nothing in return.

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 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 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 any and all punishment of a child in his writings.

Righteous pampering refers to the fact that God wants parents to pamper children. For the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness to mothers, meaning wherever the mother went, so did the child. The Early Christians practiced birth nudity, where mothers and children were in the nude next to each other, in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. This birth nudity setup brought out raw separation anxiety in children, where children were petrified of mothers "going away and never coming back". To accommodate this normal stage of development, mothers reassured children of their presence with sustaining warmth. When out and public, young children - up until age 6 - were swaddled next to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets, and then tucked under the thin, revealing dress of mothers that resembled an apron. 

Children aged above age 6 were allowed to play outside freely after checking in with mom. Children ventured farther and farther from home, but then retreating to the sustaining warmth of mothers come nightfall, through skin-on-skin co-sleeping. This skin-on-skin setup convicted the man of the house of his parent attraction, which was then dealt with using righteous masturbation. Children stopped sleeping next to their mothers come the onset of puberty, when children wanted their own place to sleep. Fathers encouraged religious education in children while children were in this age bracket, and it was largely religious self-education guided by the father's loving encouragement. 

Respect for parents is a command in the Bible, meaning that you must respect your parents to the degree that is possible. When children left the house and went to live on their own, they were required by law to respect their parents, meaning thank them in some way for pampering and coddling them. The only way around this was if there was any abuse perceived by the child, in which case the child could actually have their parents excommunicated from the church. Respect for parents was a form of thanksgiving for being pampered and coddled as a child. Most children respected their parents in biblical times, as most parents gave children something to be grateful for, and then some, pampering and coddling their children, waiting on them hand over foot. Children will submit to parents once they become young adults, but only after being pampered and coddled by their parents in childhood. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them forever be 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 day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!