Scripture instructs us parents not to provoke our children to anger:
Ephesians 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
But what exactly do we do to hurt our children this way? John MacArthur gives us a nice list, which I’ve summarized below.
How to Provoke Your Children (things you should NOT do ;)
- Excessive Discipline
- Inconsistent Discipline
- Unkindness
- Favoritism
- Overindulgence
- Overprotection
- Pressure to Achieve
I struggle with one and two at times. 3-7 I'm all good. I'd like to think that with the discipline, that I'm helping them to establish boundaries of behavior as well as learn valuable life lessons. After all is said and done, I'm their parent first and their friend second.
One thing that I try not to do, but do sometimes, is mockery (probably fits under #3) – I mimic their alligator whines, but usually not with good results…