Good vs. Bad Children - What Does The Bible Say?
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This is what the Bible says about good children and bad children.
Good children:
- “The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” Proverbs 10:1.
- “My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yeah, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and tine expectation shall not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:15-18.
- “The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.” Proverbs 23:24, 25.
- “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.” Proverbs 27:11.
- “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord they God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12.
- “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Deuteronomy 5:16.
- “And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.” Jeremiah 35:18, 19.
- “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments; For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” Proverbs 3:1-4.
- “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3.
Bad children:
- “Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents…” Romans 1:30.
- “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” 2 Timothy 3:2.
- “A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.” Proverbs 15:5.
- “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.” Proverbs 15:20.
- “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.” Proverbs 30:11.
- “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” Proverbs 10:1.
- “He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy… A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.” Proverbs 17:21, 25.
- “A foolish son is the calamity of his father.” Proverbs 19:13.
- “He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.” Proverbs 19:26.
- “And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.” Isaiah 3:5.
What does the Bible say about how bad children are punished?
- “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
- “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” Proverbs 30:17.
- “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” Proverbs 20:9.
- “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.” Proverbs 20:20.
- “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Matthew 15:4.
- “For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Mark 7:10.
- “And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.” Exodus 21:15.
Adapted from: Balan, Ioanichie (1984). Convorbiri Duhovnicesti. Romania: Episcopia Romanului si Husilor.
