Good morning people who set an example for your children that is worth following.

Colossians 3:21 NIV Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

In a similar way to husbands loving their wives in such a way that it empowers wives to submit to their husbands, there is a holy responsibility on parents to not embitter their children so that children can obey their parents.

The word father here refers to a father, but it also means parents. This verse is an instruction for fathers and mothers.

The word embitter means quarrel, provoke to anger, contention, strife.

Too often parents can add fuel to a fire that they should be adding water to. I know that this is something that I struggled with at times when my children were young. I excused my responses when they were doing the wrong thing, and this is never right. I am responsible as a parent for what I do, and my children are responsible for what they do. But I most definitely can set the tone better than a child can.

The result of parents who embitter their children is discouragement in the heart of the child. This word is a deep word that means spiritless, disheartened, dismayed, and it also involves fierceness, indignation, wrath. Parents can break a child’s heart and spirit by how they treat them. The result is often the anger that is seen in a child’s behaviour and that is dealt with harshly by us as parents.

Today, I want to encourage every parent to seek to provide the best environment for your children to flourish. Remember, the goal is not to get them to do what you say, but to empower your children to know God through the example of your life.