“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.” Colossians 3:18-19.

“Children, obey your parents [father and mother] in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Colossians 3:20.

Scripture speaks to children, boys as well as girls, and if they heed its warnings, they will avoid many dangers and snares throughout life.

“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer [one who mocks his father] does not listen to rebuke [reprimand, expressing strong disapproval].” Proverbs 13:1.

Speak to anyone who has been addicted to drugs, anyone who has gotten married too soon because of a teenage pregnancy, and anyone who has run away from home.

Speak to anyone who has destroyed their brains with drugs and see if they make any sense.

You do not have to experience these worthless things to have a good life, turn to Proverbs and Ecclesiastes for wisdom, Psalms for comfort, the gospels for salvation and the letters such as Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and others for instruction in godly living.

God has a plan for your life. It might not be as exciting as being homeless and sleeping under a piece of cardboard in a freezing rain, being hungry for weeks on end, spending time in a mental ward, or being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.

But you will at least be living a life in which you will know that you are being cared for by a God who is there and watches over you.

But right now as you grow up you are to obey your parents.

“Children obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Colossians 3:20.

When the verse says “Children obey your parents in all things,” it is speaking to both boys and girls and it does not mean all things if they are sinful.

The verse below clarifies this by saying, “obey your parents in the Lord”.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’” Ephesians 6:1-3.

This is something you will not have to worry about if one or both of your parents are Christians, but if not, it is possible for you to have difficulties.

As I told the women earlier in this study, you will have to be certain that something is a sin before you make a stand.

The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself, is it illegal. If it is and you know it is, then refuse to do it on those grounds. Do not expect them to be happy about this.

Making a stand for Christ will cost you in some way, but always take everything to God in prayer before refusing and then afterward, seek His protection at all times.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Colossians 3:21.

Many fathers have grown up without fathers today and have a difficult time knowing how to raise children.

For those of you who want to know how to best raise your children, put down the book on child psychology and pick up your Bible and begin an intense study of the book of Proverbs.

Find Christian men whom you admire whose children are well-mannered and respectful, learn of them and watch how they interact with their children.

Bear in mind that all Christian men are not great fathers, so care is recommended before emulating them.

Your child does not need to be told how wonderful they are in an attempt to build up their self-esteem. Self-esteem is earned, not a right.

Self-esteem is gained by someone when they accomplish something productive. And accomplishment comes from being treated and trained lovingly by their parents.

Self-esteem that is taught by telling someone how wonderful they are creates people who are failures in life and proud of it rather than seeking a way to better themselves.

Or it creates thieves with high self-esteem, drunks, philanderers, drug addicts, or lazy slipshod workers who argue with anyone who complains, etc.

Those indoctrinated with self-esteem also think that their opinion is always the right one, even when they have no idea what they are talking about, they are bullheaded and obstinate.

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel [advice] is wise.” Proverbs 12:15.

“If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.” Proverbs 29:9.

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4.

Whether provoking them to discouragement or to wrath all is to be avoided. Children are to be treated as you would want to be treated, fair and even handedly.

It is difficult not to treat the favorite better than the other or to compare one to another.

But this only creates jealousy and builds tension in the household, so rewards, work assignments, and punishment should be done fairly according to their age or abilities.

Fathers do not provoke your children to exasperation in the way you train them to do something, “No dummy, give me that, you are doing it all wrong!”

You must realize that they know nothing and you know everything about what you are teaching them, which is where you started as a child.

If you cannot train your child patiently, then do not attempt to teach them, or teach them in small steps so you will not become exasperated with them. In other words baby steps.

You might also pray for God’s patience with them too.

When doling out the chores on a Saturday morning tell them something like this, clean your room, mow the front and back lawn, and help me pull the weeds in the garden, and then you can go out and play.

Do not tell them to clean their room and when they are done, to mow the front and back lawn, and when they finish, tell them to help you in the garden.

They will have no goal, only, well when I do this, he will come up with something else so why bust my butt on my room. I will take my time.

And you father, will get angry when nothing of any consequence is accomplished on your day off.

During WW II the allies bombed to rubble a plant that the Germans used to make fuel out of sewage. The Germans were using Jews as slave laborers to manufacture the fuel.

The rubble from the plant sat there for a few days, and then the Jews were brought out and told to move the debris to the other end of the grounds and pile it there. After having done so, they were told to move the debris back to the other end of the grounds and pile it there. After having done so, they were then told to move the rubble back to the opposite end of the field where they had piled it the first time.

This was repeated time after time until the Jews started going mad and would be shot while trying to escape, or some other such thing.

The moral to this true story is this: folks would rather work under filthy conditions to accomplish something even for their enemies, than they would do something that accomplished absolutely nothing.

This is not an isolated incident. In the eighteen hundreds the British prisons had a system wherein the prisoners could work for their meals.

The whole thing was quite simple; each cell had a large box with a crank on it with a pre-set load and a revolution counter.

The prisoner was expected to turn the crank so many revolutions for their breakfast, lunch and then dinner. The guards then had only to read the counter to know if the prisoner had accomplished his goal for food.

This box and crank accomplished absolutely nothing it was no better than carrying rubble from one end of a field to the other and then back again.

While the NAZI commandant was surprised that do nothing labor drove his prisoners mad so soon, he wished that he had thought of it sooner.

The results of do nothing labor was also destructive to the prisoners who had to crank a handle which accomplished nothing. When these prisoners were released back into society they refused to work at all!

Always patiently give your child proper training, a goal, and appreciation for a job well done; with the addition of your unconditional love.

“I am not yielding and I will not yield to the time in which I live!” ‘– we can say that to our Lord, to ourselves and, betimes, maybe, over our shoulders to the devil.’” A.W. Tozer.

“We adapted and overcame.” Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge, 1986

Colossians 3:20-21 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 3-14-14, updated on 5-25-20.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.