Children, Obey Your Parents

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Nowhere in the Word do we see children having an option in obeying their parents. As children of God are to obey Him, so children should honor their parents.

Parents aren't always perfect, but they are always the parents. Parents aren't always right, but they are never wrong.

Dishonoring children of the Old Testament sometimes received capital punishment, disobedient children of our day ought to sometimes receive corporal punishment.

I have to be honest, I find very few consistently parent-honoring children these days, even among church kids. Disney, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon channels are surely no help.

If one ever hopes to lead, one must first earn that right by knowing how to obey.

Parents, we must be very loving, but very consistent in our child-rearing.

Hints:
*Never give them what they whine for.
*Live a God-honoring example before them. Be consistent in your life. Love God and your spouse. The best thing you can do for your kids is to love your spouse.
*Turn the TV off and open the Bible.
*Give them responsibility and supervise the tasks through to completion.
*Never reward disobedience, never let it go unpunished.
*Never yell, firmly get their attention by having them look you in the eye, listen to what you have to say and then repeat it.
*Reward obedience, give constant affirmation and encouragement.
*Don't over-indulge them.
*Guard their lives! Beware of evil communications which corrupt good manners, these include friends, activities, entertainment, etc.
*Teach them to say "yes sir" and "no ma'am"
*Let them know that they must obey completely, immediately and with the right attitude, it may one day save their lives, or someone else's.
*Above all, foster a love of God in them. Encourage them to have a personal walk with God.

By the way, this commandment is the one designated “with promise”, that is, when children honor their parents, they are promised that things would go well and they would be blessed with a long life. Pretty good incentive, I say.