2. Obedience

Children obey your parents in the Lord... Ephesians 6:1

Obey is such a difficult word to grasp, not just for little minds but for adults as well. It often requires submitting, yielding or in Webster's terms to comply. It is a breaking of our own will to follow the commands of another. It's a stripping of our indepence to fully trust that which is being commanded of us. Obey is so easily tied to that of a child but aren't we all children? Children of God? How then can I expect my children to obey if I first have not learned to be a student of obedience to the Word of God. I am learning that while I am teaching my boys the importance of obeying I too must model this obedience before them. I've heard it said that the greatest lessons in life are not taught but rather caught as it is demonstrated before them. I'm  learning that God doesn’t instantly change our children just because we want him to. Like many things in life, we often learn much about ourselves through prayer. We learn how we need to change; we learn how we need to grow.

Obedience and submission to authority  are normal parts of life. For the rest of their days, our sons will have to submit to someone or something. Even if your son becomes the CEO of the biggest most powerful company (or country) in the world, he will still have to answer to his maker. Training our boys now to respect and submit to authority sets them up for success of the greatest kind. 

Lord willing some day my boys will get married and when they do they will be responsible to lead their families. A quote I read said this, "If your man cannot submit to Jesus, he cannot lead you. A man must be willing to be led before he can truly lead." Training my boys in obedience is not an option. 

Nevertheless teaching obedience can be challenging and downright exhausting but it is one of the greatest opportunities to prove the gospel message to our sons. 

We often pray something similar with our boys, here's a great illustration out of "praying for Boys":

"Son, you're right. You didn't obey mommy. God says you must obey mommy and daddy, doesn't it?  It's hard to obey, isn't it? Everything in you wants your own way! It's fun to hit your brother sometimes. It's fun to be too loud, and sometimes it makes you feel good about yourself to tell mommy no.  But God, who made you, says that you must obey. You can't do it by yourself, can you? No matter how hard he tried to be good and obey mommy, you just can't get it right all the time. That's why we love God so much, son! I knew you couldn't do it by yourself! He knew you would choose to sin instead of obey! He knew you would need help! So he sent his only son, Jesus, to die for your sins and take the punishment you deserve. Then God raised Jesus from the dead, and now Jesus is with God in heaven, just waiting for you to confess your sin and ask him to help you fight the sin in your heart! Isn't that great news? We need Jesus! Let's pray now and ask Jesus to help you!"

God, I pray that from a young age Mack and Parker would recognize their need for a Savior and the importance of obeying and desire to obey YOU! May they do this with joy and not groaning. (Hebrews 13:17).  And Lord, teach me to forever be a student of your Word as I train up these mighty men of God.