Obedience

I've been perusing through the {phfr} links on Like Mother, Like Daughter (no, I haven't posted my own this week yet!), and came across a quote on this blog that I just had to copy so I wouldn't forget it!

It's a quote by Maria Montessori regarding the basis of parents' authority:

"Our children should understand that their duty is not to obey our personal wishes, because we happen to be their parents, but to obey external laws which we represent and expound and enforce."


These external laws are ultimately God's laws, and what I would call the Law of Goodness, based on God's nature and character. In a similar way, we don't obey God because we are subject to His every whim. We obey Him because He is Good, and we believe obedience will bring about goodness in our own lives.

And the idea is that children, at some point, will learn to obey not just because "I'm the mom and that's why," but because our commands and direction and discipline are all based on and pointing to something good in and of itself.

That also means I have a responsibility as a parent to remember that I am training up my children on God's path, not my own.

Right now, Arden is not exactly at what I would call the age of reason, so she needs to learn to obey because I am her parent. It is also true that children can't always see the goodness behind a command because of their limited understanding. But one day I hope she will understand that my rules are directing her toward God's good and loving rule.


~lg