Age of accountability. If a parent asks their child if they did something and they shake their head no, with the full knowledge that they did it, that is their first lie. "They're just a kid" is a clear sign that someone doesn't believe in loving discipline. The scriptures are clear on the immense value of discipline and conviction. This is why women are not to assume authority over a man in the church. In the same way, feelings can often obstruct much-needed spiritual growth and in the end, someone ruled by their emotions may wander off the straight and narrow. Don't be that fatherless orphan spirit. Learn to be intimately acquainted with your heavenly Father.
"A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land." Psalm 68:5-6
"“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
“I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:9-10
"But now, O LORD, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8
"Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" Hebrews 12:7
"Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son." Deuteronomy 8:5
"Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." Proverbs 13:24
"For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:12
"Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him."Proverbs 22:15
"You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol." Proverbs 23:14
Facts and statistics are congruent with these biblical Truths. These are from far earlier in 2011 (and before) and fatherlessness is the root cause for most of the increasing crime rates. Lack of discipline increases lawlessness to the extreme. We will always reap what we sow. Do not be deceived by your heart. He wants to prune us, to be more fruitful.
The Consequences of Fatherlessness | National Center for Fathering