WISE FAMILIES VALUE OBEDIENCE

Wise Families Value Obedience
Dr. Jack Graham
Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9)

Yesterday we learned that wise families fear and respect the Lord. Today we'll see that wise families also understand the importance of and value obedience.

As parents, it's important to teach your kids to obey you because as they learn to obey you, they will learn to obey God! And I think the verses above give two ways you are to do that...through instruction and teaching.

The word instruction is from a Hebrew word that includes the idea of counsel, warning, and correction. Dad, I believe this describes your role in the family...to be firm in instruction, to lay down reasonable rules and fair boundaries, and to give correction and fair discipline.

The word teaching in the verses above describes, I believe, the work of a mom in the home. It's a word that actually means coaxing or coaching. In other words, mom, your role is to teach your children...to push them forward to become all God desires for them.

It's like a mama bird with her nest full of little birds. When it's time for those baby birds to fly, the mama stirs up the nest, flaps her wings, and coaxes those little birds to elevate!

So parents, I want to ask you today, are you instructing and teaching your children? And as you do, are they learning to obey you? As they do, they will someday be ready to obey God.