{"id":52938,"date":"2022-09-05T21:49:55","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T02:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=52938"},"modified":"2022-09-05T21:49:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T02:49:55","slug":"when-does-someone-stop-being-a-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-does-someone-stop-being-a-child\/","title":{"rendered":"When does someone stop being a child?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Ephesians 6:1-2. &#8220;Children&#8221; has no absolute age-associated concept to it, does it? If it was only used in the sense of <b>young <\/b>children, well then. But it refers all over scripture to offspring generally. When does the principle of a child as a minor actually come into play here?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Children (not adults) are to obey parents &#8220;<em>in the Lord<\/em>&#8221; (Ephesians 6:1-2). If a parent&#8217;s demand conflicts with righteousness, then the Lord is obeyed over the demands of a parent. The word for &#8220;children&#8221; is <em>tekna<\/em>. It is the same word used in Matthew 18:1-6, which clearly indicates a young human. It is sometimes applied to adults because we are children of God (spiritually, we are not fully mature). It can at times refer to descendants, such as in I Timothy 5:4.<\/p>\n<p>Notice in the same context that Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to bring up their children. The Greek word <em>ektrepho<\/em> means to &#8220;bring up from childhood.&#8221; At some point, a child is no longer a child and has been raised (past tense). Thus, children (young humans) are to <strong>obey<\/strong> their parents. And people (regardless of age) are to <strong>honor<\/strong> their parents. Notice that Ephesians 6:2 doesn&#8217;t use the word &#8220;children.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Ephesians 6:1-2. &#8220;Children&#8221; has no absolute age-associated concept to it, does it? If it was only used in the sense of young children, well then. But it refers all over scripture to offspring generally. When does the principle of a child as a minor actually come into play here? Answer: Children (not adults) are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1028],"tags":[665,971,29,107],"class_list":["post-52938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-ephesians","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33626,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-telling-children-to-obey-their-parents-enable-abusers\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":0},"title":"Doesn&#8217;t telling children to obey their parents enable abusers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I completely disagree that you would teach\u00a0obeying parents\u00a0to children or people at your church.\u00a0 Honor does not mean \"obey\" and if a child or adult is being abused by their parent, they should\u00a0not\u00a0obey. You may want to rephrase your messages on your website unless you are enabling abusers within\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-parents-be-held-accountable-for-the-video-games-their-children-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":1},"title":"Will parents be held accountable for the video games their children play?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will parents be held accountable for the video games their children play? What if one is a step-parent? Answer: Whether a child genetically comes from you or not, the fact that you have taken on the role of a parent means you are responsible for the raising of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/five-smooth-stones-of-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":2},"title":"Five Smooth Stones of Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sewell Hall In Goliath, David faced what seemed an indomitable foe. David's goal was not so much to kill the giant as to protect the children and honor God. He took five smooth stones from the brook to achieve his purpose. In the pervasive humanism of our society, parents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/five-smooth-stones-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91619,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/one-word-to-transform-your-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":3},"title":"One Word to Transform Your Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser Parenting can feel exhausting and confusing. How do you train your child in a way that works-and reflects biblical wisdom? The answer may be simpler than you think. It starts with teaching your child to respect one small but powerful word: \"No.\" In this video, Scott Smelser\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Parenting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/that-piece-of-clay\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":4},"title":"That Piece of Clay","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Forrest D. Moyer A little child has often been likened to a piece of clay that can be molded into whatever type of pottery that the potter (parent) has in mind. A little child is so pliable, so willing to be molded and so trusting. This can either be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/03\/moldingClay.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/listening-to-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":52938,"position":5},"title":"Listening to Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Naomi Works In the last few years, God has blessed me with the opportunity to spend a lot of time with children of all ages in all kinds of settings (Bible studies, homeschool co-op classes, crafting sessions, everyday life, etc.). I can't even begin to express how many lessons\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}