fear? or love?

when my first boy came to this world. i thought that i could refrain what many asian parents did, to hit the children. boy i was wrong. there are times that my children can trigger me so much so that my patience runs dry.

earlier this week i read the book of NUMBERS, where there was a guy who was gathering woods on sunday. he died. he was made an example of not honouring sunday results in death. sorry dude. through fear, GOD made sure that the israelites understood that not listening to me (HIM) means death. later on in the chapters we see many more people went to the underworld because they're not listening.

JESUS on the other hands, taught me what is love. HE as a man, taught me obedience. it's weird to me that GOD himself had to come down, showed examples, all the way until death. if this is not love for GOD, i don't know what is. this weirdness that keeps attracting me, to always wonder and makes me want to know more.

i relate this to israelites being like a child, they don't understand many things, need a set of rules of do's and don'ts. as they get older (as a nation), the way they are taught through prophets are different, with the final teachings through JESUS, through love.

back to the topic, i wonder if i should use fear or love when dealing and teaching my children. i contemplate this a lot. maybe a mix of both?