Parent's Page
Teaching your children to respect authority can help them in life and might also help save their souls
Today, authority figures don't get the respect they once did. There are many reasons for that. One reason is that many people in authority have misused and abused power and authority. Scandals have involved those not only politicians, they've involved preachers and religious leaders. Across the nation more than a few policemen and policewomen have been caught on camera abusing people. Children see this too. But that doesn't mean that all politicians, preachers, police personnel and other authority figures are corrupt. The Bible makes it clear that we should give respect to those in authority. No, not blindly, but we are supposed to honor those who are placed in the role of authority, starting with our own parents. One of the 10 Commandments God gave us states clearly: "Honor your father and mother".
There are many reasons why teaching your child to have respect for authority pays off handsomely in the end. For starters, children need guidance and parents and other adults are placed in their lives to give that advice. It really can save a child from many troubles. There's a story I heard about a man who shouted to his son to stop. The boy did stop immediately and because he did so, he was not hit by a speeding bike that whizzed by him. His dad had established his authority and when the boy heard his voice, he responded.
Like that father, God has given us his voice---the Bible. In the Bible he also gives us warnings and advice. When your child learns to listen to these warnings and advice, he or she is strengthen and protected. That's why it's important to read the Bible with your child, take him or her to church regularly and encourage the child to pray to God for guidance. Like the father in that story, God wants your child to be saved from danger. More importantly, he wants your child to be saved from hell. He knows the Devil wants to trick and lure your child into going down bad paths. That is why he has inspired Christian adults to dedicate themselves to teaching children what they need to know in order to be saved (John 3:16).
When you regularly send your child into a Sunday School class or Vacation Bible School, you are placing them under the authority of a God-led teacher who is working to teach your child God's ways of living. But in order for your child to learn, he or she has to respect the teacher and listen. Talk to your child about the importance to listen in church, especially in Sunday School. Let them know that the teacher is being led by the ultimate authority: God.
Your children will benefit generationally as well when they pass down respect to their children. When you teach your child to respect you and other adults, they will pass that down to the next generation. When enough parents teach this to their kids it creates a better society. On the other hand, when we disrespect God and other authority figures, we began to create a society in which morality is whatever we say it is. That is one reason we have trends that go against the Bible. In such a world, evil is treated as if it were good. Today, people even question whether a man is really a male and a woman is really a female, even though science, nature and the Bible have made it clear that the sex you were born is the one you will die with. Someone has to decide what is right and wrong. Some authority has to decide what is good or evil. We Christians say that authority is God. God only is good enough to decide what is good or evil.
Action steps:
Pray for your children, that they will respect God and respect those he has placed in positions of authority. It is alright to; question authority, but not rebel without good cause.
Take your children to church so they can learn moral teachings of the ultimate authority: God.
Respect your children. Some parents speak disrespectfully to their children. Some even use profanity when discipling them. God wants us to discipline children but not so harshly that they become bitter or lose self esteem.
Ask God for the wisdom to use the authority he has blessed you with. (James 1:5).
