Obeying the rules and submitting to the authority of others is very difficult. But discipline in your life leads to peace. Many times we do not like the people who have authority. Even worse we may not respect them as individuals. For children and teens this is even more difficult because they lack the life experience to understand why the rules are in place. Parents need to enforce standards for them to obey. It is a painful process that can easily make the parent out to be the “bad guy”.

As a parent there have been times when my wife and I had to correct and address bad behavior from one of the children at bed time. There are tears and yelling, but they went to bed. As parents we feel bad because the guilt sets in. In our mind our child did not go to sleep happy and filled with love. This guilt and perspective is wrong. That child was loved so much that we were willing to correct them. Even when it hurt us to see them in pain. I have found that the next morning the painful part of tears and prideful resistance of the correction is forgotten. The child is at peace and a renewed embrace and understanding of right and wrong. Recognized or not children love discipline.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 ESV

Discipline seems Painful

I have found that God deals with me in much the same way. My heart is rebellious and there are always lusts of the flesh that capture my interests. Lusts and a lack of discipline do not lead to peace. These lusts for food and pleasure in my heart are part of prideful selfishness. I seek to obtain anything I want with no concern for the impact to others. A child that is screaming “me, me, me” cares only for his own needs. A child that grows up to be an adult that has never been disciplined against the selfish desires will be an adult that has no problem cheating and stealing to get what they want out of life.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 ESV

Correction, Discipline, and Peace

God’s word is vocal on how we are to correct our children and how we are to accept correction from the authorities over us. Everyone has authority that they submit willingly or unwillingly. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians quotes from the Ten Commandments and highlights an interesting fact about the command to honor your parents.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV

Obedient children leads to a society that is well organized and long lasting. Paul in another letter lumps disobeying parents in with the worst of the worst things people do.

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:29-32 ESV

Discipline is Raised Right

A child trained to obey earthly parents is an adult that will obey a heavenly father. Jesus is calling us to follow him and the authority he has from the Father. This calling and this discipline in our lives leads to the peace we all want. Jesus is calling you…

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15 ESV

If you enjoyed please click the like button or leave a comment. I love to read feedback! Jesus when he was a kid had to obey his parents also.

*Edited and Revised. Originally Published November 2014