Ephesians 6:4

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them
up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

How well we can recall the previous verses of Ephesians
chapter 6: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is
right. Honor your father and mother"--which is the first
commandment with a promise--that it may go well with you
and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Eph. 6:1-3)

We teach our children these commands, demanding that they
follow our rules and ways, sometimes without much thought to
what fair. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not "parent bashing".
I know that we love our teens and generally make rules based
on what is best for them. But I don't think that is always the
case.

Do you sometimes use rules with your teens that carry over
from your own childhood? These rules make absolutely no
sense to you, but you had to follow them so you make your own
kids follow them. Let me give you an example. My parents
would not let me leave the house in the evening after 8:00 when
I was a teenager. If I had plans for the night, they needed to
start before 8:00 or I was stuck in the house all night. Why did
they make this rule? I really don't know. I guess it bugged
them for me to leave the house when they were getting ready to
snuggle in for the night. This rule really bothered me as a
teenager. I would argue, "But the movie doesn't start until
9:00...," but it was to no avail.

Now, when my children grew into teenagers, I found myself
reverting back to the rules of my parents. I was telling them
that they couldn't leave the house past 8:00 in the evening.
This made no sense to them - or even to me, but my word was
LAW. We would get into arguments and they'd plead with me
to just explain "why". I couldn't.

One time, during one of these confrontations, the Lord spoke to
my heart through this verse. I was exasperating my children
with a rule that had no real reason behind it other than the fact
that I had to abide by it as a teen. Was it so bad for them to
leave the house at 9:00 in the evening or even 10:00? There
nightly curfew remained the same, so why did
I care if they left late, especially if I didn't even have to drive
them?

I had to take a long, careful look at some of my rules and ask
myself truthfully if they needed changing. Do kids need rules?
Do they need boundaries and limits? You bet! But be sure that
they are fair and reasonable. As your teen matures into young
adulthood, you will need to constantly review your household
rules to allow for the freedom they will need to make their own
choices as adults.

Did I say it would be easy? No way! But remember the Lord
calls us to train our children in His ways, but warns us not to
provoke our children to anger by the way we treat them. We
need to find a balance, which is what raising teens in love is all
about!