After 36 years of teaching I know one thing for sure. Parents who tell their children to do something more than twice put their children’s precious lives in serious danger. Not only do those children find potential danger lurking around every corner but they are unpleasant in the presence of guests and company. We’ve all been around kids who don’t mind their parents or anyone else for that matter. It causes a huge kerfuffle and being in that environment is simply uncomfortable for all.
The school year has ended and now parents are changing gears for the summer. Some children will go to day care facilities, grandparents will take care of summer months for grand kids, kids will go to camps for summer care or other arrangements will be made to cover the summer months for working parents. For parents who are at home, their lives will drastically change as kids come home from school for the summer and the once quiet house will be filled with busy and moving bodies for the warm season.
A common thread among all of this is that each individual kid will either be one who follows simple directions …. or not and it really all begins and ends with parents. If parents have made a command and followed through to be sure the child has done as asked, things will go well at the day care facility, grandparent’s home, or in house where kids will reside. If parents have not followed through and the child is in control, then as they say, “Katie, bar the door”! Kerfuffle is on the way, I’m sorry to say!
If parents say what they mean and mean what they say, children know and learn this but if a parent is one to speak but not follow through, there is trouble for all who deal with that child. And it is not pretty! Even the child is miserable and unhappy, not to mention everyone else in the room!
Truly, discipline begins and ends with the parent. There is no other way to put it.
As a public school teacher, I know first hand that unruly children often are blamed on the school teacher but I know for sure that an obedient child needs no strong-arm teacher to keep him or her in check. They, “check” themselves and if you follow the life of that child and could peek behind the doors of that home, you’d find parents who “say what they mean and mean what they say” and without excuse. Those parents would not be those who say, “He didn’t understand”, “She’s tired”, “I didn’t want to hurt his feelings” or all of those lame excuses that give unruly children a pass. Behind that family’s door you’d find great love and admiration but you’d see rules and discipline that would set each child up for success.
Here are 5 reasons for kids to follow directions:
1. It Is Right– The scripture teaches that children should obey their parents for “it is right“. Ephesians 6:1. Children should conform and heed authority simply because it is the right thing to do.
2. Obedience Teaches Diligence- “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 4: It is a parents job to teach right from wrong and it begins in diligence as parents and family come and go.
3. Life Will go Well- “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Ephesians 6:3 This is where the issue of safety comes in. If a child does not do as asked, he or she could be put in danger in their lives. When I was growing up, we had a 20 x 40-size swimming pool. We were not allowed to even go out by the pool when our parents were not with us. Our parents were serious about this command. It would take only one time for a non-swimming person to fall into that pool at the disobedience of any of the three of us siblings. Danger is lurking for the disobedient child.
4. Obedience Develops The Soul-“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”Hebrews 13:17. Not only is an obedient child going to have a good life but his or her spiritual life is dependent upon it. How can he or she obey God if he or she does not even obey those in authority in this life? Obedience is a must for the development of the spiritual life as well.
5. Obedience Helps One Avoid Wrath and Fury– “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”Romans 2:6-8 Obeying right from wrong is a must as it relates to avoidance of “wrath and fury”. Thousands and thousands are incarcerated in our prisons for lack of following directions and are receiving “wrath and fury” and then of course, the eternal ramifications are ones to be considered as well.
Parents are the key to children being obedient. If we love our children we will do all we can to help them find success and finding success will depend on them finding favor in the settings in which they are placed. Children must learn how to make good, solid decisions and it begins with parent discipline.
Onward Loving Parents.
Josie
