Girls,  How many times has your momma said this, “Because I said so.” When my momma said it, she backed it with a promise.  She meant business.  I knew  my mom meant business, but she also modeled obedience for me.  She expected me to obey, but she also obeyed God.  She modeled this for me.

She made time for me.  She made his teachings a part of our daily life.  God’s commandments in my home were rules to live by, not just because my mom said so, but because God said so.  God says the same thing.  He expects us to do things because He says so.

The Bible says in Ephesians 6:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Ephesians 6:1-3

You see, God tells us to do something and He backs it up with a promise. And you know what?  God keeps His promises. How many times have you promised someone something and NOT kept your promise?  Or maybe someone promised you something and they didn’t keep their promise.  But with God, He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

He tells us to obey our parents, and our parents must obey God.  He also gives them a command, it is found in Deuteronomy 6

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them  when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:5-9

We as parents are to teach our children to love God,  as a result of this love our children will learn to honor and obey God,  this will cause them to learn to be obedient.  Honor comes through obedience.

When we learn to obey and honor our parents we are being obedient to God and we will therefore receive His promises.

Parents will often make promises to us as well.  As parents we must follow through with our promises in order to help our children to learn obedience.  My parents were ones to keep their promises whether it was a promise of punishment if I disobeyed or a promise of something I wanted or was wishing for.

I had to first learn to be obedient.  Even when my momma said, “Because I said so.”

There are many commandments that we are given as children of God. The Bible lays these out for us in the Ten Commandments and other Scriptures. Some are easy to follow, while others we struggle with.  Honoring our father and mother is one that during our teen years we often struggle to keep.  The simple commandment,

“Honor your father and your mother,” Exodus 20:12 (NIV),

becomes so complex as get to this age.  For some strange reason as we hit around the age of thirteen our parents become dumber and we become smarter.
This was my personal experience.  I can remember thinking that they were so wrong, while I was so right.  Many an argument was fought because of this.  Whether it be a disagreement over whether I could go somewhere with my friends, how messy my room was, or how I chose to wear my hair, I thought they were wrong and I was right.

Sure, my friends often had crazy ideas my parents were right about not letting me participate in, my room did often resembled a pig sty, and my hair  needed washing more than once per week, but I sure did not think so in my naive little thirteen year old brain.

So, as moms and dads, how do we get our children, especially those of the teenage variety to clue into the fact that we are “smart”?  The truth is, as a former teen myself, I believe it is a phase we all have to go through.  Quite honestly as time went by, my parents got smarter and smarter.  I began to clue in to the fact that some of the things they were telling me really were for my own good and slowly I came back onto their side of many an issue.

By the age of eighteen I had come to realize that I needed them, they had good advice, and I could count on them more than my friends.  So, do not loose hope, your child will come around again.  So, be patient, and wait for them to realize the error of their ways, receive their newfound belief in you with love, and be grateful for their new found belief in what you have to say.

The Bible’s words are true that if you,

“Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Let that verse be the hope that you cling to as you continue to train your child, no matter how dumb they attempt to make you feel, because Mom and Dad, your honor will soon be restored to its rightful  place.