peace to live by

Fathers Not Provoking Their Children, Part 1 (TMF:2852)

Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Peace to Live By: Fathers Not Provoking Their Children, Part 1 (TMF:2852) - Daniel Litton
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       Verse 21 of Colossians 3: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (ESV). The call from the Apostle Paul in this verse is for fathers (and really, this could be said for mothers as well), not to be excessively hard on their children. We know, or should know by now, that being unreasonably hard on children causes them to not want to try anymore. It appears, in our current time, that generally it doesn’t seem this is so much of a problem in our society. It definitely used to be, say anywhere from thirty years ago on back, but in the same way as the marital relationship has undergone renovations in many individuals minds, so has the parental relationship. What is meant is that generally the struggle in our day and age is the reverse, in that fathers are too lenient on their children. That is, they sometimes don’t discipline them enough, so that children become not as structured as they should be or could be. This has been the observation made in many instances.