Dream with me for a minute! Imagine if your child obeyed every instruction you ever gave them, what will that look like? Think about how peaceful, joyful and proud you will be? We have so many ideas and visions of what we want our children to do and be and very close to the top is the fact that we want them to be obedient children.
Okay it’s time to wake up from our dream! Because, it doesn’t happen like that, at least in our house. Our children like to test boundaries or do what I call partial obedience. This is when a child decides to do what to you have said but not all of it! Partial obedience of any type is still disobedience.
How do we then raise Children that are obedient to God first and then us as parents? How do we encourage our children to obey willingly and wholeheartedly? Is it even possible? I think it is possible and even though we are still working on this, here are three tips that you may find helpful as the kids pray about obedience this month
Tip 1: Ask, does Jesus want you to do that?
We want our Children’s obedience to flow out of their love, fear and knowledge of God!
Ask the question- does Jesus want you to do that? Somehow I have found this question effective! There is a way it penetrates the heart of our children when you ask them this question. Whether it’s in the middle of a sibling rivalry moment over a favorite lego piece or it has to do with an instruction that isn’t been followed, giving your child the chance to answer this simple question stops them in the track. It helps them think about Jesus, and I absolutely love that. And this also gives us Parents the opportunity to explain why their action or inaction is wrong. It reminds me of the favorite scripture in Proverbs 9 verse 10, it says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” We want our Children’s obedience to flow out of their love, fear and knowledge of God!
Tip 2: Find ways to point the importance of obedience to your child as they read the Bible. The Bible is full of examples of obedient men and women- from Abraham who left his home country to Jesus who obeyed God’s plan so we could become part of God’s family!
The second tip is finding ways to point the importance of obedience to your child as they read the Bible. The Bible is full of examples of obedient men and women from Abraham who had to leave his home country to Noah who built the ark, to Moses, Esther, Mary all the way to Jesus who obeyed God’s plan for His life so we could become part of God’s family. We can see how our children have Godly examples in the Bible that we can use as reference. And what do you do when you find a disobedient man or woman in the bible, help your child see not just the consequences of their actions but also the grace and mercy Jesus provides for us even when we disobey.
Tip 3: Encourage your child to ask God for help to obey, they will never be able to willingly and wholeheartedly live a life of obedience on their own.
Finally, Let your child know they can ask God for help! This is so important because they will never be able to willingly and wholeheartedly live a life of obedience to God and others on their own! We all need God’s help to obey His word and follow His commands, we need His help to fully obey and not do our own thing. This is why teaching your child to pray about obedience is very important. They shouldn’t just pray when they want a nice toy or a new bicycle. They can learn to pray simple prayers about obedience from now on. It’s a life long process and they have the powerful tool of prayer and the Bible to help them live a life that honors and pleases God.
Adetoun
Very insightful and educating. May God continue to help us raise godly seeds
AYODELE Helen (Mrs)
This is educative. We will continue to do our best in training, so help us God