There is much to be learned about parenting, I think, in what the Lord expects of His disciples:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Mt. 28:19-20

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Prov. 3:5-6

“… God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Cor 9:7b

When our children are given a command, we require them to obey in the following ways:

• Completely: This means obeying the entirety of a command and its intent, not doing a job halfway.
• Quickly: They must not tarry but to get to the task without delay and without argument.
• Cheerfully: They must have a good attitude when obeying.

We expect them to obey completely because children can often do half of what we say, and usually only that part which is easy or preferred for them. And that’s not obedience, that’s self-interest.

We expect them to obey quickly because delay is usually a reflection of stalling and a lack of true submission. For example, a slowness to respond to a command can either be an attempt to avoid obedience, or to try to continue doing what they’re having fun with instead of submitting to the authority of their parents.

We expect them to obey cheerfully because God expects the same of us. That’s not to say that we would imagine they would have all reluctance gone. But it means that even as God’s standard of holiness for us is a heart of pure joyful submission to Him, so too we hold our children to the same standard.

And in all of the above, the goal is to instill in them an intrinsic trust in us, and actions that reflect that trust.

From time to time we chant this little ditty, “How are you to obey? ‘Completely, quickly, and cheerfully.’” One time I overheard my oldest chanting this to his siblings and it was then that I knew he caught on and remembered this principle.

Of course, when we say that we “expect” what we really mean is that we have a standard that we will expect them to attain to. It doesn’t mean we actually expect that in every instance they actually will meet it! But our goal is to help them to learn the discipline of obedience to another, so that as they grow older, they will be more able (by habit as well as by grace) to discipline themselves for the purpose of
godliness and not only submission to imperfect human authority.