Righteous pampering: Why God wants you to pamper your children

Many parents think that pampering children is the irresponsible way in dealing with children. Most American parents instead punish and reprimand their children regularly, like a never ending battle between parent and child. The fact of the matter, however, is that God wants children to be pampered by their mothers especially.

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. Parents are the enemy of children, just as mankind is the enemy of God, and are to submit as such. This surrender to parents came with strings attached on the part of parents, with children issuing righteous demands from their place of rest, usually when parents weren't doing their part around the house.

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 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 or 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. Paul may not have gotten along with women, but he sure loved children, and took in orphaned children. Indeed, Greco-Roman fathers did use the scourge of cords in order to punish their children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were largely hated for being "too soft" on their children,

Righteous pampering refers to the fact that God wants parents, especially mothers, to pamper their children. Righteous pampering occurs in a special way. For the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness with 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 cooed at the children before picking them up, then holding the child close to her bosom, in skin-on-skin mammary closeness. Milk-hungry children were breastfed to sleep when they cried. When out and about, children under age 6 were swaddled next to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets, in constant skin-on-skin mammary closeness, and with milk-dependent children being breastfed in public. Come nightfall, children co-slept next to mothers, with milk-dependent children waking up periodically to feed off of mother's milk. Co-sleeping ended at the onset of puberty, which was when the child wanted their own place to sleep.

All of this pampering of children paid off. When children who were pampered grew up, they bowed down to their parents in thanksgiving for all the times they were pampered. Most children in the Early Church were pampered, meaning parents gave their children the royal treatment. As soon as the children hit the teenage years, they started giving back to their parents. Some parents were so bad that children wanted no contact with them, in which case the child could take their abusive parents before the council, and have them excommunicated.

The main use of the acronym "righteous pampering" is to explain your choice to be a gentle parent. When someone says that you are pampering your child, reappropriate that accusation and celebrate the fact that you pamper your children. This acronym also explains to Christians that God wants parents to pamper their children. Pampering children helps win children over.

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!