2Wrds was founded on teaching my children values such as kindness, generosity, and respect. Lately, I’ve had a hard time explaining to Thing 1 and Thing 2 to respect authority, when everything in our culture screams defiance. When did showing respect become counter-culture? How can I possibly teach my children to respect those in authority if adults don’t model this behavior?
When I was in college, I worked for the university and each student took turns working over Christmas break. The year I was selected, I wasn’t happy about it and proceeded to tell my boss. When I called my parents to tell them, my dad was quick to correct me. He told me to apologize to my boss and ask for forgiveness. What? No way was I going to do that.
My dad passed on a bit of wisdom that day that I will never forget. He said my attitude was one of disrespect and that my manager was in authority over me. The next day, I shuffled into work and proceeded to apologize for having a bad attitude. That moment changed my relationship with my manager, and more importantly, it changed me. Author and speaker, Dave Willis, says it best.
“Show respect even to people who don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.” —Dave Willis
You see, showing respect benefits us even more than the other person. SHOW RESPECT teaches us how to compromise and follow instructions, even when we disagree. These are attributes I want to teach my children.
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Respect is so important. It starts with you, as a parent. If you don’t show respect for people in authority, such as your boss, the school principal, or the police , then how can you expect your children to show respect without you modeling it for them?
Even if you don’t agree with the person in charge, God says you have to show respect. Honestly, I think the biggest problem is we’ve taken God out of everything–school, government, etc. We have turned into an entitlement population that expects something for nothing. But even in this culture, as parents, you need to point your children toward God. Get them involved in church, youth group, know who their friends are, and who they have in their social media.
Demand respect from your children–for you, for grandparents and any others who are in authority, such as teachers and friends parents. Pray for your children. That’s the biggest defense.
Great point! Thanks for your comments!