Righteous pampering: Why God wants your child to be pampered

Many parents think that pampering their child is the irresponsible choice in parenting. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents avoid even the appearance of pampering their children. However, the Bible instructs parents to pamper children righteously, and alongside its context, sets forth how children should be pampered. Ancient Jewish society, including the Early Church, was an attachment parenting society, not a punitive parenting society. Their Greco-Roman pagan counterparts were the punitive parents in the ancient world.

Righteous pampering is part of 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 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 to lift up the customary law that commands a secure attachment between parents and children in the family home. This secure attachment comes from parent submission, meaning 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, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or other 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 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 means that God wants parents to pamper their children. For the first 6 years of a child's life in the Early Church, children were in constant closeness with their mothers, meaning wherever the mother went, so did the child. The Early Christians practiced birth nudity, where mother and child were in the nude next to each other, in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. When children cried or were upset, mothers cooed in order to reassure and validate the upset of children, then holding children close to their bosom in mammary closeness. When out and about in public, mothers swaddled their young children - under age 6 - to her bosom in swaddling blankets, then tucking the child underneath her loose-fitting, revealing dress that resembled an apron. Come nightfall, children co-slept next to their mothers in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. Children slept next to their mothers until the onset of puberty. After puberty, children usually wanted their own place to sleep. 

Pampering children also brought rewards for parents. At a young adult's baptism, they bowed down to their parents in order to give thanks for all the times they were pampered as children. Children were not expected to reverently respect their parents until moving out of the home. Until then, children were pampered and coddled by their parents, cradled in the love and submission of parents. All of this pampering of children culminated with a child bowing down in reverence to their parents, giving due thanksgiving to all the warm and cuddly memories that their parents gave them.

Pampering children is what you do as a Christian. The Bible commands, when understood in full and in context, as to pamper a child. Children were seen in the biblical context as representatives of God, meaning they were treated as royalty, and not a single Christian was allowed to complain about children, lest they appear entitled to other Christians. This is the setup we need today for children.

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!