Submission - A Place of Grace

Children, Obey Your Parents In The Lord

A second relationship that flows directly from that of the wife to the husband is that of children to parents. The difference here is that children were not born of their own choice into this relationship; thus the total responsibility falls on the parents to see that it is worked correctly.

Children are to be trained in submission at an early age. It is not a question of whether they want to submit or not, but it is up to the parents who see the value of submission. The foundation laid in the early years will have implications over the entire life of a child. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). If we love our children, we will give utmost attention to the area of submission and obedience.

Our children will touch authority all through their lives. To be able to properly respond to that authority, they must learn to recognize and submit to that authority quickly and with the right attitude. Their primary place to learn this is in submission and obedience to their parents. If they are allowed to be independent and self-willed in their response to parents, they will have the same response to all other authority--including God. God has called us to prepare our children for Himself, and the foundation that we are to lay in their lives will prepare them to recognize and submit to His authority. For us to be able to recognize and discern properly, we as parents must be under authority and properly submitted to God. Right seeing comes out of right living. Right living comes out of obedience to God. When God commands us to submit to Him and live, He does so out of care and concern for us. We do the same for our children.

The example of submission unto God in every area of our lives and the expression of the wife's submission to her head are essential in the proper training of our children. If these examples are not present or are weak, the results will be seen in the children. This cannot be avoided. We can never say, "Do as I say but not as I do," and expect anything but trouble. The importance we give to submission to God and His Word forms the background for the importance of our word to our children. We need to do more than set an example, but example serves as the foundation for everything else we do.

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