Objective Parenting

[S] Ephesians 6:4 -- ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[O] Parenting is a tricky business because while I need to take it personally to raise my children in an upright way, I also need to be not so involved personally.  What I mean by this is that because I have a vested interest in my children's well being, I can get all wrapped up about teaching them some lessons in life.  Especially the in their teenage years I often fool myself to think they're grown ups when they're still just a children (other than physically) and sets a higher expectation on myself and can get pretty hard on them.  Today's passage teaches me such an approach can simply provoke anger in my children leaving them zero learning capacity.  Instead I need to discipline and teach them with instructions from the Lord through His word.

[A]  Even though I may be emotionally all worked up, I must balance that with God's wisdom and instructions such that the plumb line they need to is not my standards but God's own standards.

[P] Dear God, please make me a father who would bring my children up to follow God closely throughout their lives through ups and downs, successes and failures because of my pointing them to Your instructions and disciplines.  May they fear You and align their lives no matter how far they may drift away from You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.