Because I want them to grow up honoring their school teachers, the police, our gov't, their pastors whom the Scriptures say are due "double honor", their boss at work, and most importantly, Jesus Christ. All these things begin in the home with dad and mom. If a child is taught to honor dad and mom, they will honor the other authorities Christ has put in their lives. When a child dishonors God given authorities, you can almost be assured that child dishonors their parent.
This principle is the 5th commandment. In the big ten, commandments 1-4 deal with our relationship with God and 5-10 deal with our relationships with each other--I can't kill you or hate you, lust after you or your spouse, steal from you, lie about you, or covet your things. But those are just #s 6-10. What is #5, the first commandment in the list of dealing with each other? Honor your father and mother--and it's the commandment with the famous promise attached. Honor your parents and God rewards you, dishonor them and God punishes you. Why is "honor your father and mother" such a big deal? Because whether or not you do determines whether or not you will submit to the other authorities in your life which are all given to us by God for our own good.
Ironically, our culture whose early childhood "experts" downplay the value of disciplining one's children for dishonoring his/her parents is the same culture whose teachers, police, and gov't complain about adults who don't honor authority. You can't have it both ways...it all begins in the home during childhood with a child's relationship with mom and dad. Adults with authority issues where once children who rebelled against the authority of their parents.
So, Nicole and I don't tolerate our children dishonoring us. It isn't just about order in our home, it's more so about preparing them for adulthood. God given authorities are a blessing from God and submission to these authorities produces the blessings of safety, protection, and ironically, freedom to flourish personally. We love our kids and want our kids to have these blessings when they are older--it starts with their relationships with us now while they are 6, 4, and 2 and in a reduced way, even for Chloe at 1.
Glory to God.
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