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Parents to Teach Obedience, June 7
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Ephesians 6:1
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The children are to be taught that their capabilities were given them for the
honor and glory of God. To this end they must learn the lesson of obedience; for
only by lives of willing obedience can they render to God the service He requires.
Before the child is old enough to reason, he must be taught to obey. By gentle,
persistent effort, the habit should be established....
Let children be shown that true reverence is revealed by obedience. God has
commanded nothing that is unessential, and there is no other way of manifesting
reverence so pleasing to Him as by obedience to that which He has spoken.
The mother is the queen of the home, and the children are her subjects. She
is to rule her household wisely, in the dignity of her motherhood.... Tell your
children exactly what you require of them. Then let them understand that your
word must be obeyed. Thus you are training them to respect the commandments
of God, which plainly declare, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not.”
Few parents begin early enough to teach their children to obey. The child is
usually allowed to get two or three years the start of its parents, who forbear to
discipline it, thinking it too young to learn to obey. But all this time self is growing
strong in the little being, and every day makes harder the parent’s task of gaining
control. At a very early age children can comprehend what is plainly and simply
told them, and by kind and judicious management can be taught to obey. Never
should they be allowed to show their parents disrespect. Self-will should never
be permitted to go unrebuked. The future well-being of the child requires kindly,
loving, but firm discipline....
Wise parents will not say to their children, “Follow your own choice; go where
you will, and do what you will”; but, “Listen to the instruction of the Lord.” Wise
rules and regulations must be made and enforced, that the beauty of the homelife
may not be spoiled....
Children will be happier, far happier, under proper discipline than if left to do
as their unrestrained impulses suggest. A child’s truest graces consist in modesty
and obedience—in attentive ears to hear the words of direction, in willing feet and
hands to walk and work in the path of duty....
Above all things, parents should surround their children with an atmosphere
of cheerfulness, courtesy, and love. A home where love dwells and where it
finds expression in looks, in words, in acts, is a place where angels delight to
dwell.—
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 111-115
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