Righteous pampering: Why God wants you to pamper your child

Many parents think that pampering your child is the irresponsible choice as a parent. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents punish their children, and start punishing from an early age. Most parents either place their child in time-out/false imprisonment, or else a disciplinary spanking. The fact of the matter, however, is that God wants you as a parent to pamper your child.

The concept of righteous pampering is a 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 word denotes a form of surrender to parents, but while giving children the right to petition for their needs, particularly when the child perceives that parents aren't doing their fair share in terms of righteous providence.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense, 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 them as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christians 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 secular writings. Indeed, Greco-Roman parents used the scourge of cords with their children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were hated largely for being "too soft" on their children.

Righteous pampering is a biblical acronym in the Christian faith. However, the context, as lifted up by the text, calls for children to be pampered a certain way. During the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness to mothers, meaning that 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. Whenever children cried, mothers rushed in to reassure the child, with the cries being validated by cooing. When out and about in public, children were swaddled next to the bosom of mothers in constant mammary closeness. Come nightfall, mothers co-slept next to mothers in skin-on-skin fashion. Co-sleeping, in most cases, ended at the onset of puberty, when children wanted their own place to sleep.

Righteous pampering leads to righteous respect once the child gets older and leaves the house. When young adults were being baptized into the church, they bowed down to their parents in order to show righteous respect. The amount of respect given to parents was what they earned. Parents won over the respect of their children by pampering and coddling them. If parents were instead cold and harsh, you could divorce your parents, in which case the case went before the council, with the parents likely being excommunicated. However, most parents paid homage to their upbringing. In the modern day, you can expect this type of righteous cooperation with your teenagers.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke your children to anger though 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!