Don’t Exasperate The Children – The Fifth Commandment

Don’t Exasperate the Children

The fifth commandment

Exodus 20.12; Deuteronomy 5.16

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Ephesians 6.4

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Take it from a pro.

We must be careful not to provoke our children to anger, to exasperate them in their journey to learn how to honor us and other proper authorities, in the light of the highest honor and devotion they give to God. Take it from a pro: I know a thing or two about exasperating children (just ask ours). In my experience these are the prime exasperators: (1) Lack of time with your kids. (2) Failure to take an interest in them and their interests. (3) Impatience. (4) Demanding more than they are able to provide at any given time. (5) Failing to affirm. (6) Using negative criticism as your primary corrective. (7) Living an inconsistent life. (8) Refusing to explain things so that they can understand them (“Because I said so, that’s why!”). I’m gonna stop there because, otherwise, you’ll think I’m a more horrible person than I really am. Happily, I think I managed to overcome at least some of these over the years. But these are the ways we honor our children in the process of teaching them to honor us. If we’re not willing to honor them, how can we expect them to understand what the fifth commandment requires of them?

Did you experience any sense of “Ouch!” in today’s meditation? What might you do to begin eradicating these exasperators from your own child-rearing?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.