Righteous apology: Why to apologize to your child in order to avoid offense in children

Many parents think that they don't have to apologize to their children at all. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents think it is beneath them to apologize to their child. Instead, most American parents back up their limits with punitive measures, instead of an apology. However, children are going to feel hurt by set limits, in which case you need to apologize.

God's Law against punitive parenting is spelled out in Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. The idea is to avoid offense in children. If you hurt someone else's feelings, you need to apologize. It works the same way with children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to apologize for hurting your child's feelings. Most of the time, children are offended when their feelings are hurt by parent anger directed towards them. If you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for hurting your feelings with my temper", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as any parent anger directed towards children alone is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, and is a Latin term roughly translated to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. However, this commandment was ultimately received by the parish at Colossae as prohibiting causing offenses in children as perceived by a child, at minimum. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it snyway, obeying God over men.

Offense avoidance involves apologizing whenever you hurt another person's feelings. There is no way around it. If you hurt someone's feelings, you need to apologize. It is no different when dealing with children. Whenever you hurt your child's feelings, you need to apologize. This includes children having hurt feelings from set limits. Whenever you hurt a child's feelings, you need to apologize. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever 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!