What does the Bible say about loving your child?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible teaches that loving a child means faithfully nurturing, instructing, correcting, and praying for them in the Lord, with patient, self-giving care. Proverbs 13:24 calls parents to loving discipline rather than neglect, while Proverbs 22:6 urges deliberate training in the way of wisdom. Ephesians 6:4 warns fathers not to provoke their children, but to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Love is not mere affection or indulgence; it acts for a child’s lasting good, speaking truth and setting wise boundaries. As 1 John 3:18 teaches, love must be shown in deed and truth. Patient instruction, even when a child does not immediately respond, remains a faithful calling.
Top passages, ranked by readers
Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- Proverbs 13:24 14 votes
One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- Proverbs 22:6 12 votes
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- Ephesians 6:4 12 votes
You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- 1 John 3:18 11 votes
My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
- Proverbs 29:19 8 votes
A servant can’t be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.
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