Doing this Dad thing...

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
In a proverbial way, Paul gives brief instructions for life's relationships, including how fathers relate to their children.  Just as in Colossians, he gives a warning - in this sinful world, our tendency as fathers is to alienate our children by being too demanding of what we want.  But that does not mean we do as tend to do in our culture - expect nothing.  There are good, positive expectations we should have of our children that build their lives.  Discipline is training that can tend to be painful, but necessary for success. When done properly, we experience not only the strain of being stretched, but the thrill of accomplishment that shows it is worth it.  The "instruction of the Lord" gives knowledge that becomes wisdom when put into effect. It is a storehouse of "what you need to know" when life's challenges arise.  Disciplining our children takes discipline on our part, and if our instruction is offered from a container with no biblical substance, our "instruction" is like the service manuals we guys never look at.  Let's make sure that we are able to discipline and instruct by being disciplined and instructed ourselves.