I Am a Person with a Beautiful Family Portrait

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” Colossians 3:20-21        At some point along the way, nearly every family experiences a conversation that goes something like this: A student is having a chat with a parent about some disagreement, and the parent says, “So long as you are living in my house and under my roof, you need to follow my rules.” The child responds, “I don’t have to listen to you just because you are my parent...I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”        Sound familiar? That's because there is, in many families, a wrestling match that takes place between parents and children over independence and authority, over who should be listened to and what the expectations are. Children want to be treated like adults, and adults want their children to grow up to be respectable members of society. If you are a Christian parent, you want your children to live like Jesus.        How do we do that in harmony? First, children are to submit to their parents. And, parents, we are to raise our children up lovingly and in the Lord. How do we do that together, and what does that look like in our daily lives?