- What is the source of Child/Teenage Disobedience?
- What does the Bible say about Disobedience?
- How do we re-route them with grace? show more than you speak
- How to navigate it? Understand these are God’s babies. We only oversee and guide. God knows the plans He has for them.
1. What is the source of Child/Teenage Disobedience?
Let’s pause and press rewind for context…
“So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:14-19.
To understand these scriptures means to understand humanity and the reasons behind our actions. Re-read it again and ask God to reveal to you the depth of these words. Disobedience in our children is not our fault. Let me type it again: Disobedience in our children is not our fault. Some may disagree, but when we read the Bible and understand that our forefathers, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, and Sin entered the human race, it makes sense why we do what we do. Now, that does not excuse us from continuing to walk in Disobedience, but it gives us content as to why we do certain things, including our children. It is human nature. We are all born sinners because of our forefathers, which is why we must live a lifestyle of repentance.
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of Sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of Sin.” Romans 7:21-25.
Upbringing and Specific events or traumas in a person can influence their obedience or Disobedience.
Children and Teenagers, like adults, need structure and to be brought up with a standard of righteous and positive living. The Bible is an invaluable resource for understanding how we should live and conduct ourselves; reading specific books that will help us raise our children is also beneficial. One that I recommend would be “The 5 Love Languages of Children” and “The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman. These books will help you understand how children and teenagers perceive different scenarios and how to engage and love them based on how they receive and feel loved.
2. What does the Bible say about Disobedience?
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
“See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.”
Deuteronomy 12:32.
“Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 31:13.
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6.
“The Lord’s anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob— not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.” Numbers 32:10-13.
“ ’But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. “ ’If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.” Leviticus 26:14-18.
“he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.” Deuteronomy 32:46-47.
3. How do we re-route them with grace? Show more than you speak.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18.
As parents, it’s easy to talk and repeat ourselves, and that’s important, but let’s ensure that what we say is backed up by our actions. Are we disciplined in the same areas that we want our children to be? Remember that they need to see us doing more than what we are saying. Months ago, I felt a bit defeated and was praying to God for a few of my kids because I just felt like they were not listening.
While praying, I remember hearing the Holy Spirit saying to me, “Kids will obey to the level you obey God.” At that moment, my heart sank, and I wrote that down, stuck, because here I was crying to God, and He was probably feeling frustrated with me because of certain areas in my life where I was not obeying Him. I quickly went to repentance and asked God to help me with this, as it is a daily struggle to stay focused and walk out my obedience. What has God called you to do? Have you been listening to him? Next time you wonder why your children might not be obeying you, remember what God shared with me and if it could help you. Then, ask God to show you what is going on in this area of your life.
4. How to navigate it? Understand these are God’s babies. We only oversee and guide. God knows the plans He has for them.
The best teacher will always be the Holy Spirit and the Bible, which is the word of God. Pray, Read the Bible, Fast, andRepeat for a breakthrough in any area you are seeking change in your child’s life.
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6.
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.”Psalms 127:3.
“Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Psalms 119:33-35.
God gives us specific directions in the Bible, his living word, on how to do everything in this life. When we begin to read God’s word, it is mind-blowing to realize that every scenario in life is addressed, providing examples of what to do and what not to do, as well as how God dealt with people. We are the overseers of our children; we helped bring them into this world, but they are God’s first, and He decides everything about them, even though we may believe otherwise.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalms 139:13-16.
Pray for guidance and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what areas in your life need improvement and how to help you navigate the ministry of raising the Children God has blessed you with.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the reader, your son or daughter on the other side of this screen, who has taken the time to read what you wanted them to learn about Navigating child and teenage Disobedience. I pray that the tips and scriptures shared will remind them to seek you and trust you. I pray that you encamp your war angels around them so that they use wisdom and are vigilant against the enemy’s tactics against their children. I pray for peace over their mind, strength in their physical bodies, and assurance in you alone for the days ahead. In Jesus’s name, I pray, Amen.
BrendaHubbard 
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